If you saw it coming, good for you.
Though we knew the Covid-19 situation was getting worse, many Singaporeans were still shocked to get the news that no dining in at F&B outlets will be allowed for a month.
So we did what we usually do during times of crisis: Head to the supermarkets to stock up.
Anticipating this, the stock price of beloved heartland supermarket Sheng Siong jumped as high as 11.33% in the 20 mins after the news was released.
It ended Friday (14 May) at $1.66, 10.67% up after starting the day at $1.51.
While Covid-19 and the accompanied ‘Circuit Breaker’ caused many Singapore businesses to suffer, Sheng Siong was one of the biggest beneficiaries.
Their profit went up almost 50% in the 1st quarter of 2020.
They attributed the good results to panic buying due to the announcement of DORSCON Orange, as well as the ‘Circuit Breaker’ causing more people to eat at home and load their pantries.
They did so well in 2020 that they gave their staff up to 15.7 months’ bonus.
Now that more people will be eating at home again for the next month, Sheng Siong’s fortunes are set to rise again.
According to a chart from Google of Sheng Siong Group’s stock performance on 14 May, it opened at $1.51 at the start of trading at 9am.
It then rose slightly, and was at $1.55 at 1.05pm.
Then came a press conference by the Government’s Covid-19 Task Force, which announced a tightening of measures including the cancellation of dining out from Sunday (16 May).
After the news broke at 1.05pm, Sheng Siong’s stock price took a sudden upwards jolt for the next 20 minutes.
It rose $0.12 to a high of $1.67 at 1.25pm, before stabilising somewhat.
At the close of trading at 5.14pm, the stock still ended on a high of $1.66, or 10.67%.
For reference, here’s Sheng Siong’s stock price for the last 6 months.
We can see that the chain’s stocks had been hovering around $1.53-$1.60, never really reaching the today’s high.
The closest it came was on 25 Jan when it hit $1.65, probably due to the upcoming Chinese New Year.
The stock even went down to a low of $1.49 just 3 days ago on Tuesday (11 May).
The stock price will probably drop slightly as the initial rush to supermarkets dies down.
After all, supermarkets will continue to be open for us to stock up on food even if we do enter another ‘Circuit Breaker’, so there’s really no need to rush.
Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing has also said that there are adequate stocks in our supermarkets and supply lines are intact.
We guess there’s no stopping Singaporeans from getting into their old habits.
Thus, as long as there’s adversity in the form of a Covid-19 spike, the supermarket business will thrive.
Sheng Siong has always been generous towards their staff and given back to the community, so we don’t begrudge them for their success.
However, we do wish we didn’t have to boost their coffers every so often by lapsing back into tightened Covid-19 restrictions.
Since we won’t be able to eat out soon, do stay at home and stay safe. Hopefully we can tide over the next month just as we did last year.
Check out our guide to the new measures here:
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Featured images adapted from Facebook and Facebook.
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