DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 10th and 11th May 2017

Top Story

Condo resale prices unchanged in April but volumes down: SRX
Resale prices of non-landed private homes in Singapore were flat in April compared to March 2017, flash estimates from SRX Property show. The key drag came from the prime region or Core Central Region (CCR), which posted a price decrease of 1.2 per cent during the month. The city-fringe (Rest of Central Region) and suburban areas (Outside Central Region) put up a 1.2 per cent and 0.1 per cent increase respectively.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/condo-resale-prices-unchanged-in-april-but-volumes-down-srx
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/month-on-month-rise-in-private-home-resale-prices-comes-to-halt-in-april-while
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/resale-condo-prices-steady-after-5-months-of-increases
https://www.srx.com.sg/research/36522/private-resale-non-landed-prices-remain-unchanged-in-april-volume-drops-210

Singapore Economy

Quarterly reporting: the road ahead
Mandatory quarterly reporting may soon have its head on a plate, going by recent rumblings from the regulatory domain here. Tan Cheng Han, head of Singapore Exchange Regulation Pte Ltd (SGX RegCo), the Exchange’s newly formed regulatory subsidiary, said a fortnight ago that the practice of mandatory quarterly reporting would be up for review, with an update expected by the middle of next year.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/quarterly-reporting-the-road-ahead

E-commerce woes could send Singapore Post back to square one
Receiving a reprimand from Singapore Exchange (SGX) last week on governance lapses at Singapore Post (SingPost) more or less closes a chapter for the postal and e-commerce group, which is set to release results on Friday. But a different kind of tabula rasa could await its soon-to-be new chief executive officer, who will take the helm at a company once lauded as a transformation champion but whose recent e-commerce troubles might put it in danger of being sent back to square one. The public rap from the bourse, which did not include a financial penalty, came roughly a year after investigators released their findings from a special audit of SingPost. In its statement, the SGX mainly stuck to suggesting that the entire board should have been responsible for deciding whether to correct inaccurate disclosures made by one errant director, Keith Tay.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/e-commerce-woes-could-send-singapore-post-back-to-square-one

Singapore can ‘partner China in one belt one road initiative’

As a developed country not short of roads and ports, Singapore may not seem like a natural partner for China’s One Belt, One Road (Obor) initiative, for which infrastructure building is a key pillar. But Singapore’s role in the initiative, especially in South-east Asia, can be one of providing the less visible, behind-the-scenes expertise that determines how well a project succeeds, said former government chief economist Tan Kong Yam.
http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/singapore-can-partner-china-in-one-belt-one-road-initiative?login=true
http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/tommy-koh-rebuts-view-that-singapore-has-acted-against-china?login=true

Singapore Real Estate

Govt to tender out new farm land with 20-year lease
The Singapore government will tender out new plots of farmland with longer leases of 20 years, instead of the 10 years announced previously, for productive and high-tech farming. “This follows from feedback we’ve received from farmers that they needed a longer period to recover the investments for new technologies,” Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong said in his blog on Tuesday.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/govt-to-tender-out-new-farm-land-with-20-year-lease
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/government-to-offer-land-for-high-tech-farming-with-longer-20-year-leases
http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/new-farm-plots-20-year-leases-set-aside-high-tech-farming

Court of Appeal gives Shunfu Ville sale the green light
Four years after the collective sale committee at Shunfu Ville was formed, the sale of the Bishan estate has finally got the green light. The Court of Appeal yesterday dismissed an appeal filed by objectors against the sale of the 358-unit privatised HUDC estate. The sale grabbed headlines last May, when more than 82 per cent of the owners agreed to sell the estate for $638 million to property developer Qingjian Realty.
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/court-of-appeal-gives-shunfu-ville-sale-the-green-light

Developers turn to VR technology to market new properties
With virtual reality (VR) technology, one can walk into a new mall, home or office space that has not been built yet. Developers are increasingly using such technology to help market new properties. Lendlease, for instance, is using a three-dimensional modelling platform to help visualise its upcoming precinct, Paya Lebar Quarter.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/developers-turn-to-vr-technology-to-market-new-properties-8834078

Water leakage a big issue among homes
More than six out of every 10 cases brought to the Strata Titles Board (STB) in the last three years involved water leakage issues between unit owners, said the Ministry of National Development (MND). The figure has remained consistent for each of the past three years, said MND, responding to queries from The Straits Times. The board received 289 applications altogether between 2014 and last year, including 188 cases of water leakage, with disputes involving owners and management councils forming all but five of the remaining 101 cases.
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/housing/water-leakage-a-big-issue-among-homes

Companies’ Brief

FCL posts 42.2% drop in Q2 profit
Frasers Centrepoint Limited (FCL) marked a 42.2 per cent drop in net profit for the fiscal second quarter ended March 31 to S$71.2 million, on the back of lower revenue and an absence of a divestment gain compared to a year ago. Its revenue was 21.4 per cent lower than a year ago at S$705.8 million due mainly to lower income recognition from residential projects in Singapore, China and the UK.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/fcl-posts-422-drop-in-q2-profit
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/frasers-centrepoint-q2-profit-falls-422

Sabana unveils steps to soothe unitholders
Rattled unitholders of Sabana Shari’ah Compliant Industrial Real Estate Investment Trust who fought valiantly but lost their bid to unseat the Reit manager, should have been more dispirited to hear Tuesday’s news that the Reit fared poorly – again – in the first quarter with distribution per unit down 24 per cent.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/sabana-unveils-steps-to-soothe-unitholders
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/ceo-of-sabana-reits-trust-manager-to-leave

Hatten Land sinks into RM74m Q3 loss on one-off RTO expenses
Hatten Land reported a net loss of RM74.25 million (S$24 million) for the third quarter ended March 31, from a net profit of RM5.65 million in the year-ago period, dragged down by one-off expenses relating to its backdoor listing. The group reported a one-off non-operating expense of RM87.8 million in the three months from professional fees related to its reverse takeover (RTO) and acquisition costs arising from the RTO.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/hatten-land-sinks-into-rm74m-q3-loss-on-one-off-rto-expenses

Perennial, Malaysian firm unveil Penang waterfront project
A joint venture in which Perennial Real Estate Holdings has a 50 per cent stake has unveiled its integrated mixed-use waterfront development in Penang, Malaysia. The project, The Light City, which is being billed as a landmark project, sits in the Gelugor suburb on the eastern coast of Penang, with an expected total gross development value of more than RM4.5 billion (S$1.5 billion).
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/perennial-malaysian-firm-unveil-penang-waterfront-project

Views, Reviews & Forum

Boosting productivity with people-first stance
In tandem with cultural shifts and advances in modern technology, the design of city districts and buildings is evolving to factor in new lifestyle possibilities and preferences. One of the most significant areas of change is in the workplace. No longer is it sufficient that a new building impresses; rather, the trend is moving towards a complete work ecosystem that is designed to seamlessly integrate work with other lifestyle activities, connecting people beyond their workspace at various cultural, recreational and nature spots.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/opinion/boosting-productivity-with-people-first-stance

Unfair renovation contracts hurt home owners
The terms and conditions of many renovation contracts have been written in such a manner as to put apartment owners at an unreasonable and unfair disadvantage (33 complaints against renovation firm; April 27).
http://www.straitstimes.com/forum/letters-in-print/unfair-renovation-contracts-hurt-home-owners