DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 12th February 2019

Singapore Real Estate

The Florence Residences to preview this weekend
The first of 2019’s several mega-launches will soon hit the market post-Chinese New Year, with the 1,410-unit The Florence Residences in Kovan set to preview starting Feb 16. No prices were revealed at the press conference on Monday, a spokesman for developer Logan Property told The Business Times. But executive director for Logan Property Singapore CB Chng had previously told The Edge he thinks average pricing will be in the “S$1,400 to S$1,500 psf range”.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/the-florence-residences-to-preview-this-weekend
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/upcoming-mega-project-launch-will-set-tone-for-other-condos-analysts

Singapore Economy

Positioning Singapore for future challenges
Singapore’s economy ended 2018 on a relatively healthy note, growing by 3.3 per cent, slightly lower than the 3.6 per cent growth in 2017. Bear in mind, though, that this was despite the US-China trade tensions, a further cooling in China’s economy and eroding momentum in the manufacturing sector. The Singapore economy is at a crossroads. The GDP growth forecast for 2019 looks slightly softer again. The IMF has downgraded its global growth forecast again to 3.5 per cent for this year, while the Economist magazine warns of an era of “slowbalisation”.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/focus/singapore-budget-2019/positioning-singapore-for-future-challenges

Firms gloomier about H1 2019, BT-SUSS survey finds
Having ended 2018 on a subdued note, firms are now gloomier about business prospects in the first half of 2019, the latest quarterly Business Times-Singapore University of Social Sciences (BT-SUSS) Business Climate Survey has found. In particular, foreign firms saw their fortunes take a turn for the worse, after having previously performed better than other groups. However, all firm types reported a better performance in their overseas business activities than those in Singapore.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/firms-gloomier-about-h1-2019-bt-suss-survey-finds

Companies’ Brief

APAC Realty deepens presence in Indonesia, Thailand
When APAC Realty listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) in September 2017, strengthening its Asia-Pacific network was among its key plans. On Monday, that vision was a step closer to fruition with the real estate player acquiring the ERA master franchisor for Indonesia while taking a direct ownership of the Thailand ERA master franchise through a partnership. APAC Realty has had a presence in these markets for over 25 years and they are among the real estate brokerage’s biggest overseas.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/apac-realty-deepens-presence-in-indonesia-thailand

First Reit slides 4.39% after analyst downgrade to ‘sell’
First Reit’s units saw its gains over the past five days erased on Monday, following a broker’s report which downgraded the counter to “sell”. The Reit (real estate investment trust) was trading about 1.75 per cent lower just before midday, but slid further in the late afternoon to finish 4.39 per cent lower at S$1.09. The counter’s lowest so far this year was S$0.98, on Jan 2.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/first-reit-slides-439-after-analyst-downgrade-to-sell

Oxley second quarter earnings down 33%
Property developer Oxley Holdings’ net profit for the second quarter ended Dec 31, 2018 slid 33 per cent to S$45.2 million from a year ago. Revenue decreased 12 per cent to S$355.5 million mainly due to lower revenue contribution from a development project in the United Kingdom. Gross profit fell 33 per cent to S$46.4 million mainly due to lower margin from the project in the UK.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/oxley-second-quarter-earnings-down-33

Manulife US Reit Q4 DPU up 7.7% on acquisitions
Manulife US Reit (MUST) has posted a distribution per unit (DPU) of 1.53 US cents in the fourth quarter, up 7.7 per cent from 1.42 US cents a year ago, boosted by acquisitions. For the three months ended Dec 31, distributable income rose 33.8 per cent to US$19.6 million.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/manulife-us-reit-q4-dpu-up-77-on-acquisitions