DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 10th October 2017

Singapore Economy

MAS chief makes push for fintech tie-ups in blockchain
Ravi Menon, Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) managing director, said on Monday that innovation and technology will be the main drivers of growth in Singapore, especially in its financial services sector. Mr Menon was delivering a keynote address at a global blockchain business conference in Vishakhapatnam, in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/technology/mas-chief-makes-push-for-fintech-tie-ups-in-blockchain

OCBC, StarHub launch S$6m ‘We Economy’ tie-up
The “We Economy” could finally be taking off in Singapore. Part of the new digital economy, it is where pioneering enterprises move beyond conventional industry silos to form unified digital ecosystems that can more effectively and comprehensively serve their customers.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/ocbc-starhub-launch-s6m-we-economy-tie-up

Singapore Real Estate

Two mixed-use developments up for en bloc sale
The en bloc train steams ahead with another two projects jumping on the collective sale bandwagon on Tuesday. The mixed-use developments – Jalan Besar Plaza and Tai Wah Building off Orchard Road – both sit on freehold land and are asking for S$390 million and S$81 million respectively.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/two-mixed-use-developments-up-for-en-bloc-sale
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/two-mixed-use-sites-launch-collective-sales
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/tai-wah-building-on-killiney-road-up-for-collective-sale-with-81m-asking-price

Ivory Heights preparing for collective sale for S$1.34 billion
Ivory Heights, a privatised HUDC estate at Jurong East, will be joining the enbloc sales bandwagon, after more than 80 per cent of its owners present at the second extraordinary general meeting last week voted in support of the sale proceeds apportionment method and collective sale agreement. The next thing to do would be to garner support for the collective sale, which also requires a 80-per-cent consent from residents.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/ivory-heights-preparing-for-collective-sale-for-s134-billion
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/ivory-heights-guns-for-13b-as-it-seeks-sale-approval?login=true
http://www.todayonline.com/singapore-former-HUDC-estate-ivory-heights-collective-sale

SingPost Centre delivers mail, mall and more
One-stop lifestyle destination SingPost Centre re-opened on Monday, after having grown bigger. The five-storey mall, located next to Paya Lebar MRT station, has doubled its gross retail floor area to 269,000 square feet after a two-year redevelopment. The five-storey mall now houses up to 130 stores over a net lettable area of 178,000 sq ft.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/consumer/singpost-centre-delivers-mail-mall-and-more
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/smart-post-offices-to-be-delivered-to-newer-estates
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/singpost-centre-shopping-mall-reopens-with-retail-space-doubled-9292432
http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/singpost-launches-new-flagship-facility-future-ready-features-services

Smart showers to be fitted in 10,000 BTO flats from next year
The installation of smart shower systems in 10,000 new Build-To-Order (BTO) Housing Board flats will begin early next year, national water agency PUB said yesterday. Two firms – Amphiro, and Smart and Blue – will supply and deliver the showers. They will produce up to 10,000 devices each. Details such as which BTO flats they will be installed in are still being finalised.
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/smart-showers-to-be-fitted-in-10000-bto-flats-from-next-year
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/2-companies-chosen-to-supply-smart-shower-devices-to-10-000-9292758
http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/smart-showers-colour-codes-or-panel-display-water-usage-levels-picked-new-flats

Singapore brands lack support from local consumers: study
A study has found that about one-tenth of consumers in Singapore prefer local brands in contrast to other Asian countries, where the demand for locally-designed high-end goods is on the rise. Across 15 consumer categories including beauty & personal care, consumer appliances and hotels & airlines, a mere 12.5 per cent of the Singapore population will pick local brands, making the Republic’s score the lowest compared to countries such as Japan (48.9 per cent), South Korea (42.3 per cent) and Indonesia (38.6 per cent).
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/consumer/singapore-brands-lack-support-from-local-consumers-study

Amazon faces uphill struggle in S’pore from malls and Alibaba
As Amazon.com Inc. pushes into South-east Asia with a new venture into Singapore, the online retailer is facing some tough hurdles. Shopping in air-conditioned malls is practically a national sport, and e-commerce rivals moved in long ago. Delivery delays also marred Amazon’s debut in July, when on-the-ground operations began with Prime Now two-hour deliveries. Even when including orders placed on its main US website, Amazon lags behind local web store Lazada and its parent, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/amazon-faces-uphill-struggle-in-spore-from-malls-and-alibaba
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/malls-in-singapore-pose-hurdles-for-amazon

Companies’ Brief

CDL moves to take M&C private
The market had speculated about it for years, and on Monday, Singapore-listed CDL finally came out into the open, unveiling plans to buy the remaining shares in its majority-owned Millennium & Copthorne Hotels plc (M&C). CDL, which is led by executive chairman Kwek Leng Beng, said it is looking to offer M&C shareholders 552.5 pence in cash for each share, in a deal which values M&C at £1.8 billion.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/cdl-moves-to-take-mc-private
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/cdl-may-make-buyout-offer-for-millennium-copthorne
http://www.todayonline.com/business/property/city-developments-offers-buy-millennium-copthorne-s322-billion

KOP shoots up on news of Sam Goi taking 20% stake
Shares in KOP Ltd surged as much as 23 per cent in price to S$0.096 on Monday on news of a proposed share placement that would give ‘Popiah King’ Sam Goi a one-fifth stake in the Catalist-listed real estate development and hospitality company. Some market observers said that the market could have earlier caught hint of the placement as the stock had soared 50 per cent to S$0.078 last Friday, ahead of the announcement that came shortly after midnight.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/kop-shoots-up-on-news-of-sam-goi-taking-20-stake

SPH Reit’s distribution per unit up 0.7% for Q4
SPH Reit chalked up a 0.7 per cent increase in distribution per unit (DPU) for the fourth quarter to 1.42 Singapore cents from 1.41 cents a year ago. For the full year ended Aug 31, DPU came in at 5.53 cents – up 0.5 per cent – marking a consistent trend of steady return to unitholders since the Reit was listed on the SGX in mid-2013.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/sph-reits-distribution-per-unit-up-07-for-q4
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/sph-reit-q4-payout-up-07-on-higher-rental-income

Viva Industrial Trust declines opportunity to buy Ho Lee Group’s Ang Mo Kio property
The managers of Viva Industrial Trust (VIT) have declined Ho Lee Group’s (HLG) offer for it to buy the latter’s property at 7000 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5 for S$300 million. The offer had been made because Viva Industrial Reit (VI-Reit) has first right of refusal on the property, and HLG has received an offer from an unrelated third party to buy it for S$300 million.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/viva-industrial-trust-declines-opportunity-to-buy-ho-lee-groups-ang-mo-kio
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/viva-industrial-trust-turns-down-right-of-refusal-to-buy-industrial

Boustead Projects secures Singapore contracts worth S$56m
Mainboard-listed engineering company Boustead Projects said on Monday that its wholly-owned subsidiary Boustead Projects E&C has secured S$56 million of contracts in Singapore. The first contract, valued at S$27 million, involves the design-and-build of an industrial waste management complex. It is the company’s third project in the waste management industry.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/boustead-projects-secures-singapore-contracts-worth-s56m

Views, Reviews & Forum

The ‘Smart’ in Smart Nation is also about being more human
In his 2017 National Day Rally, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong underlined Singapore’s vision to be a Smart Nation. The Smart Nation masterplan favourably positions the country economically and socially for the future, where being “smart” defines most, if not all, aspects of our life from the home to the workplace.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/opinion/the-smart-in-smart-nation-is-also-about-being-more-human

New global financial architecture takes shape
By all accounts, Asia’s stock of economic power has been expanding in the last two decades. This has occurred on the back of the rapid and sustained growth of regional economies, not least of which are China and India, whose shares of global trade and GDP have increased considerably during this time.
http://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/new-global-financial-architecture-takes-shape