DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 14th June 2017

Top Story

Resale condo prices up 0.4% in May: SRX
Resale prices of private non-landed homes in Singapore rose 0.4 per cent in May, led by improvements in the prime and city-fringe regions, flash estimates from SRX Property show. The price change in April was revised from “no change” to a 0.2 per cent dip. Still, SRX Property’s resale index is showing an overall recovery since last November. Resale prices in May were 1.5 per cent higher than a year ago, also buoyed by the prime and city-fringe areas.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/resale-condo-prices-up-04-in-may-srx
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/resale-condo-prices-up-in-may-with-more-sold
https://www.srx.com.sg/research/37512/private-resale-non-landed-prices-increase-04-in-may-volume-increases-174

SPH, Kajima in top bid for maiden Bidadari site
The much-coveted Bidadari commercial and residential site garnered 12 bids on Tuesday with the top bid of S$1.132 billion coming from an equal partnership between Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) and Kajima Development. The highest bid translates to S$1,181 per square foot plot ratio based on the maximum gross floor area of 958,450 sq ft allowed for the 99-year leasehold site next to Woodleigh MRT Station.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/sph-kajima-in-top-bid-for-maiden-bidadari-site
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/sph-kajima-team-up-to-place-top-bid-for-bidadari-residential-and-commercial-site
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/sph-kajima-make-top-bid-for-bidadari-site
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/sph-and-kajima-team-up-to-place-top-bid-of-1132b-for-bidadari-residential-and

Singapore Economy

Surge in global household debt fuels concern: IIF
A new international debt crisis, many believe, could be triggered by high levels of government debt and emerging market corporate borrowing. But a new study says that mushrooming household debt in some advanced and emerging economies also represents a serious threat to the global economy.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/surge-in-global-household-debt-fuels-concern-iif

Job market in Q1 stays weak but with pockets of optimism
The job market remained weak in the first quarter of the year, but not as weak as earlier figures suggested. The Ministry of Manpower’s final – and more detailed – Labour Market Report 1Q 2017 released on Tuesday even revealed some improvements.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/job-market-in-q1-stays-weak-but-with-pockets-of-optimism
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/manpower/fewer-layoffs-in-q1-but-job-market-remains-weak?login=true
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/manpower/longer-job-search-more-common-with-pmets-hit-hardest?login=true
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/business/fewer-workers-laid-off-in-q1-but-job-seekers-took-longer-to-find-8941276
http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/ratio-openings-jobseekers-rise-total-employment-falls-sharply-mom-q1-jobs-report

Bond issues could slide for third straight year
The number of Singdollar-denominated bond issues is on track to fall again for a third straight year. As the half-year mark approaches, the value of these new bond issuances has hit $12.5 billion so far this year with 61 deals done, versus $12.7 billion in the same period last year from 70 issues, according to DBS Group Research, comparing data up to Monday.
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/bond-issues-could-slide-for-third-straight-year

GIC pledges US$100m to ex-employee’s hedge fund: sources
GIC has committed up to US$100 million to a hedge fund started by David Mercurio, a former employee who worked at the Singaporean wealth fund for a decade, according to people familiar with the matter. GIC has backed Lauro Asset Management, a long-short equity fund founded by Mr Mercurio, who left the wealth fund in 2011, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. GIC will invest as much as US$100 million, capped at 50 per cent of the fund’s assets.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/gic-pledges-us100m-to-ex-employees-hedge-fund-sources

Singapore Real Estate

S’pore property, Asia looking up: Fidelity
Singapore property is starting on a long uptrend, said a top executive at Fidelity International. “This current down cycle seems to me to have been going on for a long time,” said Tim Orchard, who is chief investment officer equities, Asia Pacific ex-Japan. A weaker currency helps, he said. “Singapore also has a small, open economy, which can be a catalyst.”
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/spore-property-asia-looking-up-fidelity

Location of rubbish chute leaves some HDB buyers in the funk
The location of a rubbish chute has sent a small group of prospective Build-to-Order (BTO) homeowners anxiously rummaging for answers. Proposed floorplans on HDB’s promotional website had displayed two versions with separate rubbish chute placements, leading to buyer anxieties about having possibly relied on obsolete marketing materials to select units at block 655C of Waterway Sunrise I – a Punggol Town Housing & Development (HDB) project.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/location-of-rubbish-chute-leaves-some-hdb-buyers-in-the-funk

The Albracca up for collective sale with S$62-65m asking price
The Albracca, an 11-unit residential development along Meyer Road in Marine Parade, has been put up for collective sale, with an asking price of S$62-65 million. This marks the first collective sale attempt for the 10-storey residential development and comes on the heels of four collective sales this year, worth slightly over S$1.5 billion, already surpassing last year’s three en bloc deals of over $1 billion in value.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/the-albracca-up-for-collective-sale-with-s62-65m-asking-price
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/meyer-road-condo-offered-for-collective-sale-at-62m-to-65m

Coming: More focus on quality in public tenders
Caught in a property downturn, the construction industry has seen desperate firms bidding for projects at excessively low rates. In a bid to control such fee-diving, the Government will soon pilot a new type of public tender that will place a greater emphasis on quality over price, National Development Minister Lawrence Wong announced yesterday evening.
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/housing/coming-more-focus-on-quality-in-public-tenders

Sentosa to get new attraction in makeover
A 450m-long elevated walkway, offering sea views as visitors stroll from Sentosa’s integrated resort to its beaches, highlights plans to help the attraction keep pulling in the crowds. There will also be a new outdoor attraction on a 1ha plot of sloping land between Imbiah Lookout and Siloso Beach while the island’s iconic 37m-tall Merlion will be revamped with new content later this year. And in August, Singapore’s first 50m-tall bungee tower will open on Siloso Beach.
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/sentosa-to-get-new-attraction-in-makeover
http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/new-attractions-sentosa-2021

Companies’ Brief

ICBC Singapore, Surbana ink cash management deals
ICBC Singapore on Tuesday said it has signed a global cash management agreement with Surbana Jurong and Mewah Oils & Fats Pte Ltd. The agreements were signed as part of a cash and treasury management seminar co-hosted between ICBC and Singapore Business Federation (SBF).
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/icbc-singapore-surbana-ink-cash-management-deals

Boustead unit launches startup programme
Mainboard-listed engineering company Boustead Singapore’s geospatial subsidiary Esri Singapore has launched a startup programme to help startups develop sustainable Smart Nation solutions. It does this by equipping them with sophisticated location analystics capabilities.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/boustead-unit-launches-startup-programme
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/boustead-unit-launches-start-up-programme

Some 400 Dennis Wee agents have signed with PropNex
Home seekers can expect the ranks of agents at some new launches to swell now that 400 or so salesmen from the Dennis Wee Group have signed agreements with PropNex Realty. PropNex has the marketing rights to about 50 condominium projects so it is inevitable it will unleash some of its new agent signings onto the market.
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/some-400-dennis-wee-agents-have-signed-with-propnex?login=true

mm2 Asia to buy 50% of Golden Village Cinema for S$184.25m
Catalist-listed mm2 Asia has entered into an agreement to acquire 50 per cent of the Golden Village Cinema business in Singapore for S$184.25 million from Village Cinemas Australia Pty Ltd. A conditional sale and purchase agreement was signed on Tuesday for mm2 Asia’s stake acquisition in Dartina, the Hong Kong-incorporated company which holds the Golden Village Cinema business.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/mm2-asia-to-buy-50-of-golden-village-cinema-for-s18425m
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/mm2-asia-to-buy-50-stake-in-movie-theatre-operator-golden-village-for