New holding: Fraser and Neave

Added 120 shares of Fraser and Neave via the unit share market at $4.52 per share today. F&N's last reported NAV was $4.01 per share, so at about 1.13X price-to-book, the stock is not unreasonably priced. F&N traded at a large premium to NAV in the 2006-2007 market run up, but was priced at a huge discount to book in the 2008-2009 market downturn. At its recent low of $1.86 on 9 March 2009, the stock was trading at approximately 54% discount to NAV.

Of course, the stock has run up considerably, and valuations appear to be much less attractive. Nevertheless, the company is the clear market leader in beverages and beers, at least in South East Asia. The stability of the drinks business is complemented by the more volatile property business, and the two managed REITs offer opportunities for an asset-light approach (similar to Capitaland's). This is a quality company with a long track record, and could be a core holding within the portfolio. A dollar-cost-averaging approach will be taken via the POEMS sharebuilder programme.

Being the 18th of January, buying odd lots under the sharebuilder programme kicked in. Added 51 shares of SPH at $3.79 and 33 shares of STI ETF at an average cost of $2.98645.