DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 14th March 2018

Singapore Economy

President Halimah Yacob approves Budget 2018
President Halimah Yacob has given her assent to this year’s Supply Bill, supported by independent advice and recommendations from the Council of Presidential Advisers. Madam Halimah made the announcement in a Facebook post on Tuesday, which said that Budget 2018 has the “right balance of preparing us for the future” while also helping Singaporeans weather disruptions ahead.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/president-halimah-yacob-approves-budget-2018-0
http://www.straitstimes.com/politics/president-halimah-gives-approval-to-supply-bill
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/president-halimah-yacob-gives-assent-to-budget-2018-10040170

Singapore tops global smart city performance ranking in 2017: study
By beating London and New York, Singapore has emerged top in a global smart city performance ranking in 2017, according to a study by market researcher Juniper Research. The Global Smart City Performance Index – sponsored by global technology player Intel – ranks the top 20 global smart cities in terms of the integration of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies and connected services across four key areas: mobility, healthcare, public safety and productivity.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/technology/singapore-tops-global-smart-city-performance-ranking-in-2017-study
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/spore-tops-rankings-again-for-most-liveable-city-for-asian-expats
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/spore-pips-london-ny-to-top-global-smart-city-ranking

Bangladesh PM woos Singapore companies with economic and land incentives
Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday went all out in her bid to woo Singapore companies to her fast-growing country, offering up as draws its booming economy, competitive workforce and liberal investment regime. She even made a generous pledge of land. “From a humble, subsistence and agriculture-based economy, Bangladesh is shifting towards a modern, resilient and diversified economy,” she told more than 200 participants at the inaugural Bangladesh-Singapore Business Forum held at the Shangri-La Hotel.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/bangladesh-pm-woos-singapore-companies-with-economic-and-land-incentives
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/bangladesh-pm-pulls-out-all-the-stops-to-woo-singapore-firms

Changi Airport, STB, Qantas ink S$5m deal to boost visitor flows
The Singapore Tourism Board (STB), airport operator Changi Airport Group (CAG) and Qantas have signed a three-year, S$5 million partnership to promote Singapore as a destination as well as a hub for visitors. With Qantas set to bring back its Sydney-London service via Singapore from March 25, the trio have inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) which will see them roll out a series of joint marketing campaigns in Australia, the United Kingdom and South-east Asia to promote travel on Qantas via Singapore.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/changi-airport-stb-qantas-ink-s5m-deal-to-boost-visitor-flows
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/changi-stb-tie-up-with-qantas-to-grow-traffic
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/changi-airport-singapore-tourism-board-and-qantas-ink-s-5m-deal-10038690

Grab Financial could disrupt banking sector
Banks might soon be the next taxis. Grab’s new fintech platform Grab Financial – which it launched on Tuesday – will impact and may one day disrupt the banking sector much like its ridehailing services have disrupted the taxi sector, industry players told The Business Times. Through Grab Financial, Grab will offer loans and insurance to “millions” of consumers in South-east Asia.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/technology/grab-financial-could-disrupt-banking-sector

Singapore Real Estate

Singapore condo resale prices up 1.9% in Feb; units sold rise 11.3%: SRX
Resale prices of condominiums and private apartments in Singapore continued to accelerate last month surpassing the last peak in prices seen in January 2014, according to flash estimates from SRX Property on Tuesday. Prices in February rose 1.9 per cent from the previous month – higher than the 1.3 per cent month-on-month price rise seen in January, which was revised up from an earlier estimate of a 1 per cent increase. This was also the seventh consecutive month of growth for the resale property price index.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/singapore-condo-resale-prices-up-19-in-feb-units-sold-rise-113-srx
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/condo-resale-prices-up-19-in-february

CDL prices penthouses at New Futura from S$39.8m each
City Developments is pricing its two penthouses at New Futura in Leonie Hill Road from S$39.8 million each, which works out to S$5,079 per square foot based on the strata area of 7,836 sq ft. The penthouses, on the top two levels of the completed project’s two 36-storey towers, have five bedrooms each.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/cdl-prices-penthouses-at-new-futura-from-s398m-each
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/foreigners-form-bulk-of-buyers-at-two-cdl-upmarket-projects

Certis, Eutech launch IoT facilities management solution, eye overseas markets
Security group Certis and technology SME firm Eutech Cybernetic have partnered to launch an Internet of Things (IoT) facilities management (iFM) solution which they will market both in Singapore and overseas. International Enterprise (IE) Singapore linked up Eutech and Certis Group to jointly work on the newly launched iFM solution, which the two companies say is the first of its kind.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/technology/certis-eutech-launch-iot-facilities-management-solution-eye-overseas-markets

Companies’ Brief

Healthcare benefits for PropNex agents and their dependants
Real estate agents from PropNex, Singapore’s largest real estate agency, will be among the first to enjoy a healthcare benefits programme for self-employed workers in the real estate industry. The real estate agency, with about 7,000 agents, has teamed up with medical benefits administrator MHC Asia Group and financial advisory SingCapital to launch the PropNex Associate Healthcare Benefits Programme for all of its agents and their dependants on Tuesday.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/healthcare-benefits-for-propnex-agents-and-their-dependants
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/propnex-offers-healthcare-benefits-to-its-6900-agents

Oxley in final negotiations to sell block in Ireland project
Oxley Holdings is in the final stage of negotiations to sell a 300-year lease of a block in its mixed-use development Dublin Landings, which is its first project in Ireland. Dublin Landings, which was launched in October 2016, is situated along Dublin’s North Wall Quay.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/oxley-in-final-negotiations-to-sell-block-in-ireland-project
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/oxley-in-final-talks-to-sell-lease-of-project-in-dublin

OUE prices S$304.75m concurrent offering of 5-year convertible, exchangeable bonds
OUE has priced a S$304.75 million concurrent offering of five-year convertible and exchangeable bonds. OUE Limited announced it is pricing S$154.75 million of convertible bonds due Apr 13, 2023 at a coupon of 1.5 per cent, convertible into new shares at an initial conversion price of S$2.112 per share.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/oue-prices-s30475m-concurrent-offering-of-5-year-convertible-exchangeable-bonds
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/oue-prices-s30475m-concurrent-offering-of-5-year-convertible-exchangeable

Perennial, Chesham sign sale and purchase agreement for Capitol buy-out; deal to be completed on May 8
The sale and purchase agreement has been signed for Perennial Real Estate Holdings’ consolidation of its interest in the iconic Capitol Singapore project. The property’s two co-owners – mainboard-listed Perennial and Chesham Properties, a Pontiac Land Group affiliate – inked the deal on Tuesday, with the completion of the acquisition set for May 8.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/perennial-chesham-sign-sale-and-purchase-agreement-for-capitol-buy-out-deal-to-be

CapitaLand sells land in Ahmedabad, ups shareholding in Chennai serviced residences
CapitaLand Limited has sold off land in India that it owned through a subsidiary for INR528.5 million (S$10.8 million) to third parties, the developer announced in a Singapore Exchange filing on Tuesday. CapitaLand divested 100 per cent of its equity interest, which comprised its 5.32 million shares of INR10 apiece in Indian company Citadines Ahmedabad Aparthotel through two subsidiaries, Ascott International Management and Ascott International Management (2001).
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/capitaland-sells-land-in-ahmedabad-ups-shareholding-in-chennai-serviced-residences

Views, Reviews, Forum & Others

Will SoReal Prop give incumbents a run for their money?
It felt surreal witnessing the launch of SoReal Prop, an online platform initiative that binds Singapore’s biggest rivals in the property agency business together despite their differences and competition in growth, marketing and recruitment. That “historic” move led by PropNex Realty, ERA Realty and Huttons Asia came at a time when online property listings have become a major cost for agents and the fees charged by commercial property portals, mostly backed by venture capitalists, will likely continue to increase.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/will-soreal-prop-give-incumbents-a-run-for-their-money