DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 1st Jun 2018

Top Story

Mainstream brokerages enter en bloc fray
As more sites here jostle to be sold in the red-hot collective sales market, mainstream real estate agencies are also deepening their involvement in this space, marketing such sales alongside property consultancies. For some of these brokerages, it is a part of an expansion of services beyond the home sales and project marketing for which they are usually known, so their joining in the fray adds to a crowded landscape for marketing agents.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/mainstream-brokerages-enter-en-bloc-fray

Singapore Economy

India and Singapore move to deepen economic cooperation in startups and innovation
Singapore and India have called for deeper economic ties between both countries, indicating that they are moving together into areas such as startups and innovation as well as digital connectivity. Describing their economic partnership as “the heartbeat” of the relationships between Singapore and India, visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday night: “The two lions (Singapore and India) should step into the future together.”
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/india-and-singapore-move-to-deepen-economic-cooperation-in-startups-and
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/india-and-singapore-to-forge-deeper-economic-ties
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/opinion/asean-and-india-set-to-enhance-ict-cooperation

NWC recommends monthly wage hikes of S$50 to S$70 for those earning up to S$1,300
A bigger swathe of low-wage workers should get higher basic pay increases this year, said the National Wages Council (NWC) on Thursday. It recommended that those earning a basic salary of up to S$1,300 a month should get built-in increments of between S$50 and S$70.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/nwc-recommends-monthly-wage-hikes-of-s50-to-s70-for-those-earning-up-to-s1300
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/manpower/more-low-wage-workers-to-benefit-from-pay-rises
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/manpower/nwc-proposes-one-off-bonus-as-economy-and-productivity-grow
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/nwc-low-wage-workers-recommendations-salary-10295930
https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/nwc-calls-pay-raise-s50-s70-low-income-workers

Singapore bank lending goes up 0.8% in April
Bank lending in Singapore grew by a slower pace in April from a month ago, reflecting broad weakness in gains in business lending over the month, preliminary data from the Monetary Authority of Singapore showed on Thursday. Loans through the domestic banking unit – which captures lending in all currencies, but reflects mainly Singapore-dollar lending – stood at S$667 billion in April, up from S$662 billion a month ago. This translated to a 0.8 per cent increase in April from March.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/singapore-bank-lending-goes-up-08-in-april
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/singapore-bank-lending-up-08-in-april

Fall in earnings drags Singapore’s May market cap
A pullback in finance, real estate, transport and manufacturing counters in May led the value of Singapore bourse members to dip 1.5 per cent to S$987.1 million, from about S$1 billion in April 2018. The share price dip was more pronounced among the blue chips that make up the benchmark Straits Times Index (STI); they fell 2.9 per cent to S$579.3 million.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/fall-in-earnings-drags-singapores-may-market-cap

S’pore companies ink MOUs with Nanjing
Singapore and Nanjing have agreed to deepen collaboration, with seven Singapore companies and an educational institution inking deals in such areas as clean technology, logistics and innovation yesterday. The memorandums of understanding (MOUs), which involved projects amounting to US$230.25 million (S$308 million), were signed at the sixth Singapore-Nanjing Special Projects Cooperation Panel (SNCP) meeting.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/spore-companies-ink-mous-with-nanjing

Singapore Real Estate

Keen bidding expected for Dairy Farm GLS site
A 99-YEAR leasehold site at Dairy Farm Road, launched on Thursday under the Confirmed List of the government land sales (GLS) programme, is expected to see keen interest from developers, market watchers say. There are also strong prospects for the two Reserve List sites – one at Sims Drive and the other at Tampines Avenue 10 – to be triggered for sale, they add. This is especially so for the executive condominium (EC) site in Tampines, given the depleting stock of new ECs for sale and the continued appeal of the hybrid public-private housing product among homebuyers.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/keen-bidding-expected-for-dairy-farm-gls-site
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/dairy-farm-road-site-likely-to-attract-keen-bidding
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/ura-hdb-release-sale-sites-at-dairy-farm-road-sims-drive-and-tampines-avenue-10
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/ura-hdb-release-sale-sites-in-dairy-farm-road-sims-drive-and-tampines-avenue-10
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/ura-hdb-land-sales-dairy-farm-tampines-ec-10291322

Three MacPherson blocks to be replaced under Sers
Machine operator Edward Chong moved into his three-room Housing Board flat at Block 81 MacPherson Lane just six months ago. Yesterday, the HDB announced it is one of three blocks in Geylang town that have been picked for the Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme (Sers), the first such project announced since August 2016.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/housing/three-macpherson-blocks-to-be-replaced-under-sers
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/sers-hdb-macpherson-lane-selective-en-bloc-redevelopment-10291684
https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/3-blocks-macpherson-lane-be-hdbs-latest-sers-project

Companies’ Brief

Mapletree Investments’ Patmi up 39% at S$1.96b for FY17/18
Mapletree Investments announced a profit after tax and minority interests (Patmi) of S$1.96 billion for the financial year ended March 31, 2018, up 39 per cent from a year ago. For FY17/18, its revenue rose by 37 per cent to S$3.19 billion, while recurring Patmi gained 6 per cent to S$685 million.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/stocks/mapletree-investments-patmi-up-39-at-s196b-for-fy1718
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/mapletrees-full-year-earnings-rise-by-39

OUE executive chairman Stephen Riady to be SIAS patron
Stephen Riady, the executive chairman of property group OUE, will become a patron of the Securities Investors Association Singapore (SIAS) with effect from June 1. The appointment is honorary with no executive functions. Tony Tan Keng Yam, the former president of Singapore, became the first chief patron of the shareholder watchdog group in October 2017.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/oue-executive-chairman-stephen-riady-to-be-sias-patron-0
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/oue-executive-chairman-stephen-riady-to-be-sias-patron

Perennial buys firm with big stake in Sentul City in Jakarta
Mainboard-listed Perennial Real Estate Holdings on Thursday said its wholly-owned subsidiary Perennial SL has acquired Sanctuary City from an unrelated party for US$15.6 million. The jewel in Sanctuary City’s crown is its 60 per cent stake in PT Bhakti Bangun Harmoni (BBH), which owns a 246,982 square metre land parcel inside the Sentul City master-planned township, in the greater Jakarta area.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/perennial-buys-firm-with-big-stake-in-sentul-city-in-jakarta

Sembcorp buys UK distributed energy generator for £216m
Sembcorp Industries has acquired distributed energy generator UK Power Reserve (UKPR) for £216 million (S$385.72 million) in cash after a “competitive process”, giving the conglomerate a foothold in the UK’s flexible distributed energy sector. Sembcorp said the deal brings on board flexible assets and solutions, as well as merchant energy capabilities. It is part of the group’s strategy to rebalance its energy portfolio towards developed markets.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/energy-commodities/sembcorp-buys-uk-distributed-energy-generator-for-%C2%A3216m
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/sembcorp-buys-uk-power-reserve-for-385m
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/sembcorp-industries-to-buy-uk-power-reserve-for-us-288-million-10299250

Chong Kee Hiong to step down as CEO and executive director of OUE H-Reit’s manager
Chong Kee Hiong will be stepping down as CEO and executive director of OUE Hospitality Reit’s (OUE H-Reit) manager and OUE Hospitality Trust’s (OUE H-Trust) trustee-manager with effect from July 15 to pursue other professional interests. He had been the CEO since he first listed OUE Hospitality Trust on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) on July 23, 2013, overseeing the strategic growth of OUE Hospitality Trust’s portfolio to S$2.2 billion.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/chong-kee-hiong-to-step-down-as-ceo-and-executive-director-of-oue-h-reits-manager

Khor Un Hun, CEO of trustee-manager of Keppel Infrastructure Trust, to step down on June 30
The trustee-manager of Keppel Infrastructure Trust on Thursday announced that its chief executive officer Khor Un Hun will step down from his position on June 30 to pursue other interests. Succeeding Mr Khor is Matthew Pollard, who will be Keppel Infrastructure Fund Management’s (KIFM) CEO from July 1.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/khor-un-hun-ceo-of-trustee-manager-of-keppel-infrastructure-trust-to-step-down-on

Views, Reviews, Forum & Others

The smart way to use Artificial Intelligence and make sense of it
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has literally rewired our thinking for the future. Despite its hype, AI has the potential to replicate many profound developments in multiple areas of business – and our personal lives. The truth about AI sits in a balance between its global domination within a couple of years and the deconstruction of AI as reality. The hard fact is that while AI proposes an incredible number of possibilities, not everything will come to fruition in the near future.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/opinion/the-smart-way-to-use-artificial-intelligence-and-make-sense-of-it

Malaysia scraps high-speed rail: Derailing of a game-changing plan
Malaysia’s decision to scrap the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed rail (HSR) project will come as a disappointment to those who saw it as emblematic of closer transport links between the two countries. The futuristic HSR deal, signed by the previous Malaysian government in December 2016, would have seen the 350km line reduce travelling time between the two cities to 90 minutes when completed in 2026.
https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/st-editorial/derailing-of-a-game-changing-plan
https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/hsr-project-cancelled-hopes-expansion-dashed-singapore-businesses
https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/no-high-speed-rail-could-leave-hole-jurong-lake-district-experts
https://www.straitstimes.com/forum/letters-in-print/move-some-govt-agencies-to-jurong-lake-district
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/hsr-costs-above-37b-with-interest-kl-says

Italy’s crisis unlikely to get out of hand
Italy could be heading for new elections in autumn 2018 or early 2019. These elections may well shape up as a de facto referendum on the rules of the European Union (EU) and the euro. That is why we need to consider the “what if” scenarios. In particular, could Italy trigger a new euro crisis?
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/opinion/italys-crisis-unlikely-to-get-out-of-hand