DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 10th February 2017

Top Story

HDB resale volume, prices down in January: SRX
HDB resale prices fell 0.3 per cent in January compared to December, while transactions fell 13.9 per cent to about 1,174 flats resold, according to data from SRX Property released on Thursday. Consultants called the drop a blip and believe that prices of HDB resale flats are still continuing to stabilise. As for the double-digit drop in transaction volume, it could be due to the large supply of build-to-order (BTO) flats released for application in the new-sale market in November, they said. R’ST Research director Ong Kah Seng said: “This might have drawn some interest away from the resale market in January because some buyers who participated in November’s balloting and were successfully allocated an appointment could have gone to do their selection in January.”
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/hdb-resale-volume-prices-down-in-january-srx
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/singapores-hdb-resale-prices-volume-fall-in-january-srx
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/housing/hdb-resale-prices-dipped-by-03-last-month
https://www.srx.com.sg/research/32312/hdb-resale-prices-decrease-03-m-o-m-in-jan-2017-volume-decreases-by-139

Singapore Economy

CFE unveils 7-point roadmap to 2-3% annual growth for Singapore
A high-level committee has laid out plans to focus Singapore’s economy on what it should do to achieve quality, productivity-led growth of 2 to 3 per cent a year over the next decade. And in doing so, the Committee on the Future Economy (CFE) is urging the city-state to keep looking outwards, while eschewing broad-based approaches in favour of targeted ones for economic restructuring. Its ultimate aim: A collaborative economy that is nimble and flexible in the face of fast-changing domestic and external realities.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/cfe-unveils-7-point-roadmap-to-2-3-annual-growth-for-singapore
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/cfe-report-7-strategies-to-take-economy-forward?login=true
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/creating-a-well-connected-spore-physically-and-digitally?login=true
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/cfe-report-maps-out-blueprint-for-singapore-s-future-what-you/3505826.html
http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/digital-economy-key-ingredient-singapores-future-success

Singapore manufacturing to be at 20% of GDP over medium term: CFE
The Committee on the Future Economy (CFE) has proposed that Singapore’s manufacturing sector should still contribute to about a fifth of economic output over the medium term. In its report released on Thursday, it recommended that “a globally competitive manufacturing sector, at around 20 per cent of GDP (gross domestic product)”, is still key to Singapore’s future economy. As such, Singapore should encourage the growth of areas that sit at the “confluence of high-tech manufacturing and high-end services”, said the report. Some examples include advanced manufacturing and the Industrial Internet of Things.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/singapores-future-economy/singapore-manufacturing-to-be-at-20-of-gdp-over-medium
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/manufacturing-sector-to-be-around-20-of-gdp-in-medium-term

Going on the offensive by deepening, widening external ties
With the anti-globalisation tide rising, the tendency of free-trade economies such as Singapore is to turn defensive to ward off the threat of trade protectionism. But the Committee on the Future Economy (CFE) has said that Singapore must not just focus on resisting protectionism; it must go on the offensive and hook up with more overseas partners and seek opportunities in new markets, especially in Asia. In its 109-page report released on Thursday, the committee said: “Our public officials, businesses and individual citizens should build strong ties with their overseas counterparts and strengthen cooperation with other countries and regions through specific projects.”
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/going-on-the-offensive-by-deepening-widening-external-ties

Singapore Real Estate

More private participation wanted in building up future city
Public-private partnerships featured strongly in the Committee on the Future Economy’s list of recommendations for the built sector on Thursday. Among these were plans to work with private companies to rejuvenate Orchard Road, to place-make and develop future precincts, as well as to create an urban logistics system.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/more-private-participation-wanted-in-building-up-future-city

New condo in Tanah Merah inspired by luxury wellness
CEL Development on Thursday announced that it will be launching a 720-unit residential condominium that’s just a minute’s walk from Tanah Merah MRT station via a linkway, hoping to draw buyers at an average pricing of S$1,350 per square foot (psf). The property development arm of listed Chip Eng Seng Corporation said that Grandeur Park Residences, which will sit on 24,394 sq m of land, comprises 96 one-bedroom units, 326 two-bedroom units, 184 three-bedroom units, 67 four-bedroom units and 47 five-bedroom units, spread across six blocks of up to 15 storeys.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/new-condo-in-tanah-merah-inspired-by-luxury-wellness
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/property-market-all-abuzz-as-new-condos-go-on-sale

China Construction tops bids for West Coast Vale site
China Construction (South Pacific) Development Co has pipped compatriot MCC Land to place the top bid for a private housing site at a state tender that closed on Thursday. The tender for the 1.64-hectare site along West Coast Vale, drew nine bids, reflecting developers’ continuing appetite for land and confidence that the market will improve.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/china-construction-tops-bids-for-west-coast-vale-site
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/west-coast-vale-private-housing-site-fetches-9-bids
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/west-coast-vale-site-draws-top-bid-of-292m

Hudson Theatre rejoins Broadway’s performance arts scene after 50 years
After nearly 50 years of serving various other purposes, the Hudson Theatre in New York rejoined the performance arts scene as Broadway’s 41st theatre on Wednesday (Feb 8). The ribbon-cutting ceremony was attended by Millennium & Copthorne Hotels chairman Kwek Leng Beng and the stars of the Hudson Theatre’s opening production Sunday In The Park With George, Jake Gyllenhaal and Annaleigh Ashford.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/hudson-theatre-rejoins-broadways-performance-arts-scene-after-50-years
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/hudson-theatre-reopens-after-14m-makeover

Companies’ Brief

ARA Asset Management’s Q4 net profit falls 28% to S$18.5m; buyout gets regulatory approval
ARA Asset Management, which is in the process of being privatised, said on Thursday that Q4 2016 net profit fell 28 per cent to S$18.5 million on lower acquisition fees and a jump in costs. The group did not declare a dividend unlike the previous corresponding period’s 2.7 cents a share. It had informed shareholders on Nov 8, 2016 – the day it announced a buyout of the company by a consortium – that no dividend will be declared or proposed for the period under review.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/ara-asset-managements-q4-net-profit-falls-28-to-s185m-buyout-gets-regulatory

GLP Q3 net profit down 7.3%
Global Logistic Properties (GLP) on Thursday posted a 7.3 per cent fall in net profit to US$170.7 million for its third quarter ended Dec 31, 2016 (Q3 2017). This is due mainly to a one-time syndication gain a year ago related to GLP’s first US portfolio, and higher non-cash accounting foreign exchange losses in this quarter. The mainboard-listed logistics facility provider said that its Q3 earnings would have been 22 per cent higher year-on-year on a core basis when adjusted for non-recurring items – driven by higher asset values from net operating income (NOI) growth, growth in operations, and the continued expansion of GLP’s fund management platform.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/glp-q3-net-profit-down-73
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/glp-reports-73-decline-in-q3-profit

Frasers Centrepoint reports 90% jump in Q1 net profit
International property group, Frasers Centrepoint Limited (FCL), yesterday reported a 90 per cent jump in its first-quarter net profit attributable to shareholders, on the back of a 45 per cent increase in revenue. FCL said this was fuelled mainly by higher contributions from its Singapore strategic business unit (SBU) and its International business unit. The group’s net profit was up to S$188.0 million for the quarter ended Dec 31, 2016, from S$98.7 million the year before. Included in this were exceptional gains of S$5.5 million, which came mainly from a gain on the step-up acquisition of equity interest in Thailand associate Golden Land Property Development Public Company.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/frasers-centrepoint-reports-90-jump-in-q1-net-profit
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/singapore-china-lift-fcls-first-quarter-earnings

Yoma Strategic’s Q3 profit plunges 98.7%
Yoma Strategic Holdings, the mainboard-listed Myanmar play, on Friday posted a 98.7 per cent fall in net profit for the third quarter to S$0.3 million, from S$25.2 million a year ago. This was attributable to currency translation losses and a significantly lower fair value gain recognised in the quarter. Revenue for the three months ended Dec 31, 2016, grew 16.6 per cent to S$27.7 million, from S$23.8 million last year, boosted by a 22.4 per cent growth in the group’s non-real estate businesses to S$16.9 million. Revenue from Yoma’s real estate business grew 8.7 per cent.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/yoma-strategics-q3-profit-plunges-987

Pan-United reports 43% rise in Q4 profit
Pan-United Corporation Ltd reported a 43 per cent rise in net profit for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2016 to S$3.55 million following the divestment of its tugs and barges business in December. Revenue slipped 10 per cent to S$176.8 million, dragged by the concrete and cement (C&C) division given the continued pressure on demand and prices of ready-mixed concrete and cement in Singapore.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/pan-united-reports-43-rise-in-q4-profit

KSH posts 33.9% fall in Q3 net profit
Construction and property firm KSH Holdings said on Thursday evening that net profit fell 33.9 per cent to S$9.1 million for its third quarter ended Dec 31, 2016, down from S$13.8 million a year ago. The group’s revenue dropped 33.6 per cent to S$35.9 million, due mainly to a decrease in revenue from the construction segment. Meanwhile, share of results of associates slipped 86.8 per cent due to lower sales and percentage-of-completion revenue recognised on property development projects in Singapore. But share of results of joint ventures achieved a turnaround from a loss of S$0.1 million in Q3 last year to a gain of S$4.0 million, attributable to profit recognised from its High Park Residences project.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/ksh-posts-339-fall-in-q3-net-profit

Tiong Woon swings into profit of S$1.82m in Q2
Crane specialist Tiong Woon Corporation Holding Ltd swung into a net profit of S$1.82 million for the second quarter ended Dec 31, 2016 from a net loss of S$67,000, thanks to operational exchange gains. But revenue still slipped 12 per cent to S$31.26 million during the quarter, with the key drag from the heavy lift and haulage segment. Citing a challenging and competitive operating environment amid a demand slowdown in its key markets, the group said it expects the on-going public sector infrastructure development in Singapore will provide support for more business opportunities.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/tiong-woon-swings-into-profit-of-s182m-in-q2

Natural Cool board ouster leaves doubts over stake divestment
Following Wednesday’s ouster of all but one director on the board of Natural Cool Holdings, eyes are now on whether the new board will freeze a contentious proposed sale of the airconditioning specialist’s stake in oil-and-exploration firm HMK Energy. Wednesday’s extraordinary general meeting (EGM) – the second attempt to boot out the chairman – came amid claims that some members of the new board and the shareholders who called for the EGM might be unhappy about the proposed divestment of HMK Energy. More than 100 shareholders were present at the Catalist-listed firm’s EGM, BT understands.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/natural-cool-board-ouster-leaves-doubts-over-stake-divestment

Boustead Projects reports 19% growth in Q3 net profit
Boustead Projects saw third-quarter revenues hurt by a lower revenue contribution from its design-and-build business; but lower expenses helped to boost its bottomline significantly. The industrial real estate solutions provider reported on Thursday that its revenue for the quarter ended Dec 31, 2016, fell 22 per cent to S$66.6 million, from $85.6 million the year before. Its net profit attributable to shareholders was, however, up 19 per cent to S$8.5 million, from S$7.2 million a year ago. This was thanks mainly to lower selling and distribution, administrative, finance and income tax expenses, the company said.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/boustead-projects-reports-19-growth-in-q3-net-profit

Views, Reviews & Forum

Lessons from the Surbana sackings saga
Surbana Jurong is an award-winning company on many fronts. Four months ago, the Temasek Holdings-owned infrastructure consultancy snagged a Platinum Award in modelling given out by the Building and Construction Authority. In a statement, a director in the company attributed the win to the “dedication, strong collaboration and hard work” of staff.
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/lessons-from-the-surbana-sackings-saga?login=true

In glitzy Singapore, hotels’ success recipe now is being mid-scale
Liesbeth Foesters travels for business around the world, but none of her hotel rooms was smaller than the one she got in Singapore. Her company has a tight budget. “If you compare this with (the room I had in) China, it is nothing, but … we have to adapt to the budget,” the 30-year-old Belgian pharma professional said as she left Hotel Jen for a business meeting.
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/in-glitzy-singapore-hotels-success-recipe-now-is-being-mid-scale

CFE hits most of the right notes
Look at the age we live in. A computer can beat the world champion at chess, backgammon and Go. Cars can drive themselves. Humanoid robots can successfully counsel autistic children. Data analytics can predict the risk of diseases in entire populations. Having a job can mean performing tasks for multiple employers that change all the time. Startup companies armed with digital technologies can destroy the business models of 100-year-old corporations.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/opinion/cfe-hits-most-of-the-right-notes-0