Yangzijiang, AEM back in vogue; volatile markets ahead following US-Iran tension

Property stocks, led by City Developments, rebounded, while UOB led a retreat in banks. Read more at straitstimes.com.

SINGAPORE - The Straits Times Index (STI) slipped from a high above 5,000 points on Feb 23 during a busy earnings and trading week, falling to a low of 4,956 on Feb 27 with all three banks pulling back, before rebounding to close at 4,995.

Yangzijiang Shipbuilding led Friday’s rally, climbing more than 10 per cent during the day and up north of 16 per cent through the week to close the week at $4.34.

The shipbuilder reported a net profit of 4.5 billion yuan (S$827.4 million) for the second half ended Dec 31, 2025, up 24.6 per cent from 3.6 billion yuan in the same period a year earlier.

Revenue for the half year rose 15.8 per cent to 15.6 billion yuan from 13.5 billion yuan previously. The group said the increase was driven by more vessel deliveries and steady construction progress, alongside more orders and higher prices for newly built ships.

Yangzijiang Shipbuilding chief executive Ren Letian said the shipbuilder expects order momentum to continue into 2026. It will aim to fill remaining delivery slots for 2029 and gradually open positions for 2030, while continuing to convert its orderbook into profits.

Semiconductor testing equipment maker AEM Holdings was the other outperformer of the week.