DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 1st August 2017

Singapore Economy

New train service to replace S’pore-JB shuttle by 2024
Singaporeans will be able to hop on an MRT train in Woodlands to cross the border to Johor Baru by Dec 31, 2024. The Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link can carry up to 10,000 passengers an hour in each direction between Johor’s Bukit Chagar terminus station and the Singapore terminus in Woodlands North, where it will join the upcoming Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL).
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/new-train-service-to-replace-spore-jb-shuttle-by-2024
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/singapore-to-johor-baru-mrt-service-to-start-by-end-2024
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/johor-baru-singapore-rapid-transit-system-links-first-step-terms-for-joint
http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/operating-firm-be-appointed-build-operate-jb-spore-rts-link

Mood brightens for services sector, softens for manufacturing
Business expectations of the services sector in Singapore turned positive for the first time in seven quarters, marking its most upbeat sentiment in three years. The optimism felt by the manufacturing sector, however, has faded slightly. But the biomedical manufacturing cluster surprised with its most upbeat outlook within the sector for the second half of 2017.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/mood-brightens-for-services-sector-softens-for-manufacturing
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/growing-optimism-over-spores-economic-recovery

China visitors fuel rise in tourists, jump in spending
Driven by growth across most categories, tourism spend in Singapore jumped 15 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter of this year to S$6.4 billion, outpacing a 4 per cent rise in arrivals to 4.3 million. Chinese travellers emerged as both the biggest spenders and leading source of visitors in the first quarter, chalking up double-digit growth in tourism receipts and arrivals.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/china-visitors-fuel-rise-in-tourists-jump-in-spending

Google to train 2,500 more Singapore SMEs to go global by 2019
Some 2,500 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore will be trained by Google to tap the global market by 2019, the tech giant announced on Monday during the official launch of the expansion of its Go Global initiative. This will be on top of the 1,000 SMEs that Google has trained to date since 2015 when the programme first started.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/sme/google-to-train-2500-more-singapore-smes-to-go-global-by-2019

Singapore Real Estate

Super penthouse at Sculptura Ardmore sold for over S$60m
Prices in the Core Central Region may be relatively soft compared to peak levels but Simon Cheong’s SC Global Developments is understood to have sold the super penthouse at Sculptura Ardmore at an eye-popping price of over S$6,000 per square foot. Going by the strata area of about 10,300 square feet, the absolute price works out to more than S$60 million – busting the S$51 million that Alibaba co-founder Sun Tongyu paid for the sole penthouse at Wing Tai’s Le Nouvel Ardmore in 2015, based on caveats data.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/super-penthouse-at-sculptura-ardmore-sold-for-over-s60m

Perennial-led consortium may put AXA Tower on the market
A consortium led by Perennial Real Estate Holdings Limited is considering an en bloc sale of AXA Tower at no less than S$1.65 billion. This translates to S$2,150 per square foot (psf) based on the total strata area of about 767,358 sq ft after an asset enhancement initiative (AEI), Perennial said on Monday.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/perennial-led-consortium-may-put-axa-tower-on-the-market
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/perennial-led-consortium-to-put-axa-tower-up-for-sale-at-no-less-than-s165b
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/consortium-mulls-over-selling-axa-tower-en-bloc

Datapulse to sell Tai Seng premises for S$53.5m
Loss-making digital storage products company Datapulse Technology on Monday said it is looking to dispose of its Tai Seng premise, Datapulse Industrial Building, for S$53.5 million. The company had on July 26 granted an option to purchase to an unnamed independent third party purchaser for the sale of its property at 15A Tai Seng Drive. The option will remain valid up to 4pm on Aug 9.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/datapulse-to-sell-tai-seng-premises-for-s535m

Two DBSS units at The Peak @ Toa Payoh resold for over S$1m
At least two housing units in the Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS) project at The Peak @ Toa Payoh were sold for more than S$1 million, two months after the five-year minimum occupation period ended. The five-room units were sold at S$1.12 million and S$1.01 million respectively, and are located on higher floors. At 117 sq m, the price works out to S$890 per sq ft (psf) at the upper end of the range.
http://www.todayonline.com/business/property/dbss-flats-toa-payoh-resold-over-s1m

Companies’ Brief

Roxy-Pacific’s Q2 profit down 26% at S$14.7m
Property firm Roxy-Pacific Holdings on Monday posted a 26 per cent fall in net profit for the second quarter on weaker revenue. Net profit for the three months ended June 30, 2017 stood at S$14.7 million, down from S$19.9 million a year ago. Earnings per share came to 1.24 Singapore cents in the second quarter, down from 1.67 Singapore cents a year ago.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/roxy-pacifics-q2-profit-down-26-at-s147m
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/roxy-pacific-holdings-posts-sharp-drop-in-q2-earnings

OKP Holdings’ Q2 profit doubles on higher revenue
Construction firm OKP Holdings on Monday reported that its second quarter net profit doubled to S$4.95 million from a year ago, on the back of strong growth in revenue from its maintenance segment. For the three months as at end June, revenue came in at S$34.4 million, up 43.2 per cent year on year. This was due mainly to growth in its core business segments – construction and maintenance.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/okp-holdings-q2-profit-doubles-on-higher-revenue

SoilBuild Q2 profit down 70%
SoilBuild Construction Group on Monday reported a 70 per cent fall in net profit for the second quarter ended June 30 to S$0.6 million, down from S$2.183 million a year ago. This came on the back of a 54.1 per cent fall in revenue to S$48 million from S$S$105 million last year.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/soilbuild-q2-profit-down-70

Ng Yat Chung appointed to SPH Reit board
SPH Reit on Monday announced that Ng Yat Chung has been appointed as a non-independent, non-executive director to the board on Aug 1, 2017. Mr Ng will be replacing Alan Chan as chief executive officer (CEO) of Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) on Aug 1. Mr Ng will also replace Mr Chan as a non-independent, non-executive director to the SPH Reit board.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/ng-yat-chung-appointed-to-sph-reit-board

Views, Reviews & Forum

Much to cheer in property sector
Analysts have been tipping on and off for years that the property market is about to break out of the doldrums, but it finally looks like their optimism is well placed. Second-quarter figures released last week by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) showed a more comprehensive set of data, proving definitively that prices are close to the bottom and will start to increase soon.
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/much-to-cheer-in-property-sector