With a history dating back to 1966, the Straits Times Index (STI) was originally coined as the Straits Industrial Index. After 30-odd years, the Straits Industrial Index was eventually succeeded by Straits Times Index on 31 August 1998. The reason for changing the index was to allow the index to cover more sectors and properly reflect the daily trading activities of stocks on SGX (or then-Stock Exchange of Singapore).
Established by SPH, SGX and FTSE Russell, the index is reviewed on a semi-annual basis. Companies can be removed and added to the index based on their market capitalisation changes. Since STI’s official inception, the index has undergone several changes. The most recent major movement would be the replacement of SPH with Mapletree Industrial Trust on June 2020.
Here, we compare the companies that were listed on the original Straits Time Index to those presently listed and uncover the changes to the index since inception.
Read Also: Straits Times Index (STI) Report Card: How Singapore-Listed Blue-Chip Companies Performed In 1Q 2021
Comparison of Companies on the Straits Times Index Since Inception
The original 1998 list had 55 companies listed. However, the present STI only covers the top 30 companies by market capitalisation. Another 5 companies form the STI reserve list but are not included as constituents of the STI. The reserve list of companies acts as a potential substitute that can replace any of the STI companies if they become ineligible before the next review.
| No. | 1998 |
| 1 | Advanced Systems Automation |
| 2 | Avimo |
| 3 | Cycle & Carriage (C&C) (Still STI as Jardine C&C) |
| 4 | Cerebos Pacific |
| 5 | CityDev (CDL) (Still on STI) |
| 6 | Comfort |
| 7 | Creative Technology |
| 8 | DBS (Still on STI) |
| 9 | DBS Land |
| 10 | Elec & Elteck |
| 11 | Electronic Resources |
| 12 | F&N |
| 13 | FHTK Holdings |
| 14 | First Capital Corp (FCC) |
| 15 | Freight Links Express |
| 16 | GP Batteries |
| 17 | Gul Tech |
| 18 | Gutherie GTS |
| 19 | Hong Kong Land (Still on STI) |
| 20 | Hong Leong Finance |
| 21 | Hotel Prop |
| 22 | Hwa Hong |
| 23 | Inchcape Motors |
| 24 | Informatic Holdings |
| 25 | Jardine Matheson (Still on STI) |
| 26 | Keppel Corp (Still on STI) |
| 27 | Kim Eng |
| 28 | L&M Holdings |
| 29 | Lindeteves.Jacoberg |
| 30 | Macro Polo Devt |
| 31 | Metro Holdings |
| 32 | Metro Mining (MMI) |
| 33 | NatSteel Electronics |
| 34 | Neptune Orient Lines |
| 35 | OCBC Bank (Still on STI) |
| 36 | Omni Industries |
| 37 | OUB |
| 38 | OUE |
| 39 | Parkway Holdings |
| 40 | Robinson & Co |
| 41 | Rothermans Industries |
| 42 | Sembcorp (Still on STI) |
| 43 | Shangri-La Hotel |
| 44 | Singapore Airlines (SIA) (Still on STI) |
| 45 | Singapore Technologies Industrial Corporation (STIC) |
| 46 | Singtel (Still on STI) |
| 47 | SPC |
| 48 | SPH |
| 49 | ST Engrg (Still on STI) |
| 50 | Thakral |
| 51 | UIC |
| 52 | UOB (Still on STI) |
| 53 | Venture Manufacturing (Still on STI as Venture) |
| 54 | Want Want |
| 55 | Wing Tai |
* Companies are listed by alphabetical order
** Information was taken from The Straits Times 31 August 1998 Publication.
Read Also: 10 Companies That Beat The Straits Times Index (STI) in 2020
13 Companies That Are Still On The Index
| No. | Companies |
| 1 | Jardine C&C (Previously Cycle & Carriage (C&C)) |
| 2 | CityDev (CDL) |
| 3 | DBS |
| 4 | Hong Kong Land |
| 5 | Jardine Matheson |
| 6 | Keppel Corp |
| 7 | OCBC Bank |
| 8 | Sembcorp |
| 9 | Singapore Airlines (SIA) |
| 10 | Singtel |
| 11 | ST Engineering |
| 12 | UOB |
| 13 | Venture (Previously Venture Manufacturing) |
Out of the original 55 companies, only 13 companies remain on the index. A quick glance shows that these mainstays are in the areas of banking, property, telecoms, and transport. The three largest local banks, DBS, OCBC and UOB, has since grown to represent 43% of the STI.
Companies That Are No Longer On The Index
| No. | Companies No Longer On STI | Action |
| 1 | Advanced Systems Automation | Listed but no longer on Index |
| 2 | Avimo | Acquired by Thales Group |
| 3 | Cerebos Pacific | Acquired by Suntory holdings limited |
| 4 | Comfort | Renamed to ComfortDelgro. Listed but no longer on Index |
| 5 | Creative Technology | Listed but no longer on Index |
| 6 | DBS Land | Merged with Pidemco Land to form CapitaLand |
| 7 | Elec & Elteck | Privatised |
| 8 | Electronic Resources | Acquired by Ingram Micro |
| 9 | F&N | Acquired By ThaiBev but still listed |
| 10 | FHTK Holdings | Renamed To SunMoon Food Company Ltd and trading has since suspended |
| 11 | First Capital Corp (FCC) | Renamed to GuocoLand Limited. Listed but no longer on Index |
| 12 | Freight Links Express | Renamed Vibrant Group Limited. Listed but no longer on Index |
| 13 | GP Batteries | Delisted |
| 14 | Gul Tech | Delisted |
| 15 | Gutherie GTS | Privatised |
| 16 | Hong Leong Finance | Listed but no longer on Index |
| 17 | Hotel Prop | Listed but no longer on Index |
| 18 | Hwa Hong | Listed but no longer on Index |
| 19 | Inchcape Motors | Delisted |
| 20 | Informatic Holdings | Renamed Informatic Education. Listed but no longer on Index |
| 21 | Kim Eng | Delisted |
| 22 | L&M Holdings | Acquired by Guthrie GTS |
| 23 | Lindeteves.Jacoberg | Acquired by the Austrian-based ATB group |
| 24 | Macro Polo Devt | Acquired by Wheelock Properties Limited |
| 25 | Metro Holdings | Listed but no longer on Index |
| 26 | Metro Mining (MMI) | Privatised |
| 27 | NatSteel Electronics | Acquired by Solectron |
| 28 | Neptune Orient Lines | Acquired by France’s CMA CGM |
| 29 | Omni Industries | Acquired by Celestica Inc |
| 30 | OUB | Acquired by UOB |
| 31 | OUE | Listed but no longer on Index |
| 32 | Parkway Holdings | Privatised and Renamed As Parkway Pantai Limited |
| 33 | Robinson & Co | Acquired by Al Futtaim Group |
| 34 | Rothermans Industries | No Longer in Operation |
| 35 | Shangri-La Hotel | Listed but no longer on Index |
| 36 | Singapore Technologies Industrial Corporation (STIC) | Merged with SembCorp |
| 37 | SPC | Acquired By PetroChina |
| 38 | SPH | Listed but in the process of privatisation |
| 39 | Thakral | Listed but no longer on Index |
| 40 | UIC | Listed but no longer on Index |
| 41 | Want Want | Delisted |
| 42 | Wing Tai | Listed but no longer on Index |
Regardless some of them are still listed on SGX but are no longer on the index. This includes ComfortDelgro, Hong Leong Finance, Wing Tai, OUE and Metro Holdings. Since its inception, 42 out of the 55 companies are no longer on the Index. Most of them have been privatised, acquired by other companies, delisted or are no longer in operation.
13 companies were acquired. This includes OUB which was acquired by UOB and SPC which was acquired by PetroChina. There are companies that have merged with the existing mainstays on STI, these are DBS Land which merged with Pidemco Land to form CapitaLand, and STIC with Sembcorp
Only one company has since gone defunct and that is Rothermans Industries.
Read Also: Here Are 5 Original STI Stocks That Are Not Longer Part Of The Index
STI Has Changed And Grown Over The Years
With over 55 years of history, the STI has been through several transformations. Apart from the 1998 transformation, the STI also went through a downsizing back in 2007, when the index’s 49 companies were reduced to 30 companies.
Presently, the current top three industry weightage for STI is banking at 43.5%, real estate at 22.3% and Industrial Goods and Services at 10.1%. This is a contrast to the 1998 initial listing of benchmark, where the top three industry weightage is finance at 22.9%, manufacturing at 22.5% and transport, storage, and communications at 19.6%. Even as finance or banking remains the top industry over these years, it is interesting to note that real estate has surpassed to be the second-largest industry. The shift in real estate weightage can be attributed to the introduction of REITs on the SGX market with Ascendas REIT and CapitaLand REIT occupying 6.5% of the STI.
Source: The Straits Times 31 August 1998 Publication
This article was first published on 1 September 2021 and updated to reflect the exclusion of ComfortDelgro from the STI.
The post Here’s How The Stocks Within The Singapore’s Straits Times Index (STI) Have Changed Since 1998 appeared first on DollarsAndSense.sg.
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