DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 14th December 2016

Top Story

CCR best performer for condo resale prices
The Core Central Region (CCR) looks set to be the outperformer again this year for resale prices of private apartments and condos. Based on flash estimates for November 2016 released by SRX Property on Tuesday, its price index for resale transactions of non-landed private homes in CCR is up 1.8 per cent from December last year. In contrast, over the same period, SRX’s price indices eased 0.6 per cent in the city fringe or Rest of Central Region (RCR) and 1.8 per cent in the suburbs or Outside Central Region (OCR), with the overall resale price index for non-landed private homes down 0.5 per cent.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/ccr-best-performer-for-condo-resale-prices
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/singapore-condo-resale-prices-up-03-in-nov-srx
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/resale-prices-of-condos-inch-up-03?login=true
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/condo-resale-prices-edge-up-03-in-november-after-four-straight-months-of-decline

Singapore Economy

Singapore will also prosper if Iskandar Malaysia region succeeds: PM Lee
Singapore will prosper if the neighbouring Iskandar Malaysia region in the state of Johor does well, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Tuesday. Mr Lee, who was in Putrajaya to attend the annual leaders’ retreat with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, said he congratulated Mr Najib on the tenth anniversary of Iskandar Malaysia this year.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/singapore-will-also-prosper-if-iskandar-malaysia-region-succeeds-pm-lee
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/kl-singapore-sign-deal-for-high-speed-rail?login=true
http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/singapore-malaysia-inks-agreement-high-speed-rail

Grim third quarter for Singapore labour market
Preliminary data that painted a bleak picture of the labour market in the third quarter was confirmed on Tuesday with the release of the final report. It offers more details of a decline in employment, a rise in resident long-term unemployment, high layoffs, and a widening gap between jobseekers and vacancies. Total employment tumbled by 2,700 in July-September, after slower growth in the past two quarters, according to the Ministry of Manpower’s (MOM) latest Labour Market Report.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/grim-third-quarter-for-singapore-labour-market
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/residents-taking-longer-to-find-new-jobs
http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/long-term-unemployment-spikes-total-employment-shrinks-q3-mom

M&A growth helps make Singapore the deals capital of region
Singapore remained the region’s leading dealmaker this year. There were 800 transactions worth US$88.1 billion (S$125.4 billion) recorded here, easily topping figures in Malaysia and Indonesia. Singapore’s total number also topped last year’s tally of 685 deals, which were worth US$103.8 billion, according to corporate adviser Duff & Phelps.
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/ma-growth-helps-make-spore-the-deals-capital-of-region?login=true
http://www.todayonline.com/business/800-deals-worth-s126b-recorded-spore-year

Singapore Real Estate

Rise in unsold private homes may lower prices: Analysts
The number of unsold uncompleted private residential units has sunk to a record low, but offsetting that trend, the rising number of unsold completed units may lead to lower prices next year, say analysts. According to the Urban Redevelopment Authority, there were just 20,577 unsold uncompleted private residential units as of Sept 30 – the lowest number since the authority began collecting data in 2001. But there has been a steady rise over the last three quarters in the number of unsold completed private residential flats since the last quarter of last year, when the number stood at 1,275.
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/rise-in-unsold-private-homes-may-lower-prices-analysts

Tech, media firms and telcos are big office tenants
Technology, media and telecoms companies are among the largest tenants of office space in Singapore, going by a new CBRE report. From last year to the third quarter of this year, firms from the tech and media sector took up about 658,000 sq ft of space in the office leasing market, the report said. This made the sector the second-largest contributor in the office lease market since 2005 to date, after the banking and finance sector. The office space taken up by the sector was mainly in the central business district (CBD) core region, either in the form of new space take-up or relocations.
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/tech-media-firms-and-telcos-are-big-office-tenants

Leases for Mt Vernon halls extended
The funeral parlours at Mount Vernon Columbarium will remain for at least another year, before they are demolished to make way for a new housing estate. The authorities have extended the leases for the parlours at the complex in Upper Aljunied Road for a second time, Today newspaper reported yesterday. The leases for Mount Vernon Parlours 1 and 2, which are run by Singapore Casket, were supposed to expire this month, but have been extended to next December.
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/leases-for-mt-vernon-halls-extended?login=true

Companies’ Brief

BASF selling five office floors at Suntec Tower One for S$129.3m
Five office floors in Suntec Tower One are changing hands for a total sum of S$129.3 million, which works out to S$2,400 per square foot on strata area of 53,863 sq ft, based on caveats data. The five floors – Levels 24, 25, 34, 35 and 36 – are being sold by BASF South East Asia, a part of German chemicals giant BASF, which currently occupies the space. The floors are being bought by companies which are believed to be linked to the Singapore-based ARA group.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/basf-selling-five-office-floors-at-suntec-tower-one-for-s1293m

Keppel Land units in share swaps with Viet real estate company
Subsidiaries of Keppel Land have engaged in a share swap arrangement with a Vietnamese real estate company that will end up with the two of them swapping full ownership of two units. Keppel Corporation, the parent of Keppel Land, said in a filing to the Singapore Exchange on Tuesday night that one of the deals will see the Singapore conglomerate’s VN Investment Pte Ltd buy a 40 per cent stake in the charter capital of Riviera Cove Joint Venture Limited Liability.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/keppel-land-units-in-share-swaps-with-viet-real-estate-company

Negative rating outlook for Far East Hospitality Trust
Rating agency Moody’s Investors Service has changed Far East Hospitality Trust’s rating outlook to negative from stable. Ms Jacintha Poh, a Moody’s vice-president and senior analyst, said in a report on Monday: “The negative rating outlook reflects the weakening of the trust’s financial profile. “The company’s earnings have fallen, on the back of a competitive operating environment, and, in particular, the supply of hotel rooms has continued to grow, while demand has stayed muted.”
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/negative-rating-outlook-for-far-east-hospitality-trust

Fragrance sets up UK unit
Mainboard-listed Fragrance Group said on Tuesday that it has incorporated a wholly owned subsidiary, Fragrance Great Britain Pte Ltd. It added that the unit is principally an investment holding company, and has an initial paid-up capital of £5 million (S$9.06 million). According to the group, the setting-up of Fragrance Great Britain is not expected to have any material impact on the group’s net tangible assets or earnings per share.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/fragrance-sets-up-uk-unit

Views, Reviews & Forum

Time to evolve Singapore’s intellectual property tax regime?
In today’s world of Industrial Revolution 4.0, intangibles such as intellectual property (IP) are increasingly embraced as the main strategic asset that provides a competitive advantage. According to Ocean Tomo, a well-established IP intermediary, the value of intangible assets for S&P 500 companies – of which IP is a major component – now constitutes 80 per cent of total market value, up from 17 per cent in 1975. It is therefore not surprising that many governments are striving to create a conducive environment for IP, so as to bolster skilled jobs creation and innovation.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/opinion/time-to-evolve-singapores-intellectual-property-tax-regime

Differential pricing to better manage parking demand
Differential parking charges were first implemented in two HDB carparks in 2009 – The Pinnacle@Duxton and Tekka Market (“Why peak hour charge at popular carparks?” by Mr Andrew Soh Wei Mun; Forum Online, Dec 8). This was to manage the high demand for short-term parking spaces during peak hours and encourage higher turnover of vehicles.
http://www.straitstimes.com/forum/letters-in-print/differential-pricing-to-better-manage-parking-demand

Affordable public retirement homes will be needed
While the Government’s many initiatives, including ComCare, for older persons and retirees are good, the numbers are stark (“87,000 beneficiaries received S$130m under ComCare in FY2015”; Dec 10). There are 440,000 Singaporeans aged 65 and above today, and this will double to 900,000 by 2030. With average life expectancies going up, the Government correctly takes heed of caring for older Singaporeans.
http://www.todayonline.com/voices/affordable-public-retirement-homes-will-be-needed