The lower case count of Covid-19 infections in Singapore has pushed the authorities to ease its Phase 2 measures which took effect on June 19.
Starting September 28, employees – most of whom had been working from home since the circuit breaker measures were imposed on April 7 – will be allowed to return to office for half of their working hours.
Office spaces would have to maintain safe distancing measures and ensure that no more than half of their employees whose jobs can be done at home, are at the workplace.
Aside from this, a new business travel pass is underway to allow senior executives based here to travel internationally, or within the region, should their work require regular travel.
Travellers on this pass will need to follow a strict and controlled itinerary during their travels. They would also either be placed on a Stay-Home notice or take a Covid-19 test and self-isolate themselves till their test results come out.
The number of these passes will be limited in the initial phases, but will be increased if they are deemed safe, the authorities say.
On a social front, all religious organisations will be allowed to conduct worship services and weddings can take place with up to 100 guests.
These measures, if executed well, could help improve public transport ridership to about 90% of pre-Covid levels by mid-2021, says CGS-CIMB analyst Lim Siew Khee.
In fact, the numbers have already been improving since the Phase 2 measures kicked off. For instance, SBS’ rail ridership rose to some 50% of pre-Covid levels in July and 55% in August.
This would translate to higher profits for ComfortDelgro, the parent company of SBS, says Lim. She is thus maintaining an “add” or “buy” call on the counter at a target price of $1.70.
This is up 24 cents from the counter’s $1.46 close on September 23.
“We believe the market has yet to price in CDG’s recovery scenario (FY21F net profit: +104% year-on-year). [This is as it] is a more liquid proxy for a recovery on traffic as we expect to see improving ridership in its subsidiary SBS Transit,” she stresses.
With people return to the office and head out for social activities, Lim believes that eateries, downtown retail malls and malls located at MRT stations, should also see higher traffic flow.
As such, she has her eyes on CapitaLand Mall Trust which has some 50% of its retail portfolio located centrally in the downtown of Singapore.
“The stock has underperformed suburban mall peers and could be deemed as a laggard,” she notes, adding that the return of the working crown could bring a rebound in the trust’s operating metrics.
Lim has an “add” or “buy” call on the counter at a target price of $2.26. This is up 29 cents from its $1.97 close on September 23.
As at 2.25pm, shares of ComfortDelGro were down 2 cents or 1.37% to $1.44, while that for CapitaLand Mall Trust was down 4 cents or 1.48% to $2.66.
