How Singtel’s share price did over the last three decades is also symptomatic of the Singapore market as a whole. Singtel ended its first trading day at more than $4. More than 30 years on, it closed at a very depressed $2.37 on Feb 7.
The Singapore Exchange (SGX:S68
) enjoyed the best market vibrancy for more than three decades in 1993 with the historic and largest IPO ever of Singapore Telecommunications (SGX:Z74) (Singtel) on Nov 1 of that year.
The number of Central Depository accounts and broking accounts were opened at an unprecedented pace as every Singaporean 21 years old and above was given Singtel shares and became a stock market participant. The government’s policy then was to transform Singapore from a home-owning society to a share-owning society and to let all adult Singaporeans have a share of the country’s phenomenal growth in the three decades since independence.
