Chart of the Day: Here’s how Singapore suffered a dismal earnings season

There is nowhere to hide.

Singapore has been bruised and battered on different sides in recent months, as eyes from all around the globe wonder what’s going to happen next to the country of what is supposed to be one of the most robust economies in the region.

In a recent report, CIMB revealed that the number of companies that disappointed vs. those that sprung positives sank to a record low of 0.3x.

CIMB details that a lot of factors have affected Singapore’s economy: planters were hit by lower ASPs and poor China performance, yards faced slower order flow, airlines and shipping have no pricing power, MRO players have turned less optimistic on jobs.

CIMB adds that locally, dwindling tourist arrivals hit some hotels and retail malls, while credit restraint hit home sales, car sales, white goods sales and adspend. Rising costs also made some retailers (Dairy Farm) suffer vs. their low-cost rivals. For regional consumer plays, Thai woes and weaker ASEAN currencies were a bane for corporate earnings.

Here’s more from CIMB:

Weak corporate earnings forced us to hunt for stocks with viable catalysts. Catalysts for CIMB’s top picks include: new product launches (OSIM, QTVC), M&As (CMH, GLL, Straco, Ho Bee), faster starts (GLP), rental revisions of under-rented assets (MINT, FCOT) and opportunistic asset shufflers (Swissco, MMT, Ezion).

We think the theme for the Singapore market defines itself by elimination. Global cyclicals rule themselves out simply by delivering poor profits in an environment of no pricing power. Domestic consumer names are running into the headwinds of slower domestic growth and rising costs. Regional consumer names face strains as Asia demand slows and currencies weaken. One has difficulty finding places to hide. The only themes left are: 1) individual stock catalysts, 2) value, and 3) yield. The last is good to last until low interest rates become a thing of the past.