DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 15 Jan 2021 (Fri)

Singapore Real Estate

High Street Plaza near Singapore River launched for collective sale at S$239m
Mixed-use tower High Street Plaza was put on the market on Wednesday for collective sale via public tender. The reserve price for the 999-year leasehold building is S$239 million, appointed marketing agent ERA Realty Network said in a press statement. Located at 77 High Street, the 11-storey property is largely made up of offices, and was completed in the 1970s.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/high-street-plaza-near-singapore-river-launched-for-collective-sale-at-s239m
https://www.edgeprop.sg/property-news/high-street-plaza-be-put-collective-sale-239-mil

12,000 visitors throng Normanton Park showroom despite monsoon deluge
Normanton Park, probably the last mega project to be launched for a while, saw a heavy turnout during its 13-day preview. The public preview for the 1,862-unit, 99-year leasehold project was from Jan 2 to 14, and it saw “huge turnout despite the heavy rain over the past two weekends,” said Lee Sze Teck, Huttons Asia research director. The current monsoon surge has led to heavy rainfall since the year began, and Jan 2 saw rainfall that was among the heaviest in 39 years.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/12000-visitors-throng-normanton-park-showroom-despite-monsoon-deluge

Courts Singapore taking up Robinsons’ former Heeren space
Courts Singapore on Thursday revealed plans to open a new flagship store spanning six storeys of The Heeren’s retail podium. Located along Orchard Road, the 189,000 square foot space was home to Robinsons department store before it closed its doors to shoppers for the last time on Dec 16. In its statement, Courts, an electrical, IT and furniture retailer, said that this flagship store would be its largest retail space in Singapore when it opens by Q1 of 2022.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/courts-singapore-taking-up-robinsons-former-heeren-space
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/consumer/courts-to-take-over-space-at-the-heeren-vacated-by-robinsons

Singapore Economy

Small firms can start renegotiating some contracts
Small and micro businesses significantly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic will be able to renegotiate certain types of contracts with their counterparties from today. They will have six weeks to enter into renegotiation under the Re-Align Framework, said the Ministry of Law (MinLaw) yesterday. Only businesses that have an annual revenue for the financial year 2019, ended March 31 last year, of not more than $30 million on a global group basis are eligible under the framework.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/small-firms-can-start-renegotiating-some-contracts

Companies’ Brief

GuocoLand MD, Sistic chairman among 9 new NMPs
Sistic chairman Janet Ang and GuocoLand group managing director Cheng Hsing Yao are among the nine new Nominated MPs (NMPs) who will be appointed by President Halimah Yacob for a 21/2 year term starting Jan 21. Mr Cheng is currently group managing director at GuocoLand Singapore. He is also first vice-president of the Real Estate Developers Association of Singapore and executive committee member of the Urban Land Institute Singapore.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/guocoland-md-sistic-chairman-among-9-new-nmps
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/politics/nine-new-nominated-mps-all-fresh-faces-0
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/politics/new-nmps-and-the-issues-they-plan-to-raise-in-parliament-0

Lian Beng H1 net profit falls 5.2% to S$17.6m
The financials of Mainboard-listed property player Lian Beng Group took a hit in the first half-year, as Covid-19 restrictions hammered the construction segment. Net profit fell 5.2 per cent year on year to S$17.6 million for the six months to Nov 30, 2020, while revenue tumbled by 36.6 per cent to S$197.5 million. The drag came on work suspension during the circuit-breaker period, as well as labour supply disruptions, its results released on Thursday indicated.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/lian-beng-h1-net-profit-falls-52-to-s176m

SLB Development H1 net profit stable year on year at S$5.54m
Catalist-listed SLB Development’s earnings held steady in the first half-year on profit contributions from its associates, according to unaudited results on Thursday. Net profit ticked up by 0.9 per cent year on year, to S$5.54 million for the six months to Nov 30, 2020, even as revenue slipped 4.9 per cent to S$19.0 million on a slowdown in construction work amid Covid-19 safe management measures at project sites. The bottom line was buoyed by the share of results from joint ventures and associates, which came to S$1.54 million, reversing the loss of S$592,000 previously.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/slb-development-h1-net-profit-stable-year-on-year-at-s554m

MAS appoints new deputy managing director
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has appointed a new deputy managing director for markets and development. Mr Leong Sing Chiong, who began his career with the central bank in 1993, takes up the role on Feb 1, MAS said yesterday. He will replace Ms Jacqueline Loh, who will retain her other post as deputy managing director for corporate development.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/banking/mas-appoints-new-deputy-managing-director

First Reit FY2020 DPU down 51.7% to 4.15 S cents
First Reit on Thursday night reported a distribution per unit (DPU) of 4.15 Singapore cents for FY2020, down 51.7 per cent from its FY2019 DPU of 8.6 cents. Its manager reported a DPU of 0.84 cent for the Q4 ended Dec 31, 2020. This brings the Reit’s DPU for the second half of FY2020 to 1.85 cents, representing a 57 per cent decline from the 4.30 cents in its half-year DPU a year ago.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/first-reit-fy2020-dpu-down-517-to-415-s-cents

Corporate digest
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/corporate-digest-1297
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/company-briefs-grab-0

Views, Reviews, Forum & Others

The four Ps have just shrunk
Most marketers went into a sales mode in 2020, focused on drawing out customers to spend. However, a silent marketing shift occurred in the background. Life during the continuing pandemic has jolted many businesses and their long-held gospels of excellence. The four Ps of marketing – product, price, place and promotion – are as old as organised marketing is.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/opinion/the-four-ps-have-just-shrunk

The 4-day week: how workplaces can successfully establish it
Many workplaces have been experimenting with different types of flexible working arrangements for years now, but the pandemic has made the need for flexibility far more pressing. This has led to the intensification of many campaigns around flexible working, among them a call for a four-day week. The four-day week has been used in the past as a way to reduce unemployment, for example, during the Great Depression of the 1930s, but the idea has been gaining more relevance in recent years and is becoming a global trend.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/leadership-management/the-4-day-week-how-workplaces-can-successfully-establish-it

Time to revisit headcount test for scheme meetings: observers
The use of a headcount test in scheme meetings – a matter of contention during the recent attempted merger of Sabana Shari’ah Compliant Real Estate Investment Trust (Sabana Reit) and ESR-Reit – should be reviewed, some market players said. There is precedent for its abolishment in Hong Kong, and the rule continues to be debated in other jurisdictions.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/time-to-revisit-headcount-test-for-scheme-meetings-observers

Singapore Budget 2021

Budget 2021 likely to be more targeted as aid tapers off
Next month’s Budget is expected to target sectors hit hardest by the pandemic, but spending overall will be reined in after extensive support measures were rolled out last year. Mr Liang Eng Hwa, chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Finance, Trade and Industry, told a pre-Budget round-table yesterday: “I am a bit more realistic about what to expect for the upcoming Budget because there are only so much financial resources you can use to help.”
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/budget-2021-likely-to-be-more-targeted-as-aid-tapers-off

Update on COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) Situation

Para-vet in police’s K9 unit is sole community virus case
A 32-year-old Singaporean who works as a para-veterinarian at the Singapore Police Force’s K-9 unit is the lone locally transmitted coronavirus case reported yesterday, said the Ministry of Health (MOH). The patient, whose job involves tele-consultations with dog handlers, developed a fever on Monday. He sought treatment at a general practitioner clinic the same day, where he was tested for Covid-19 as part of enhanced community testing.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/para-vet-in-polices-k9-unit-is-sole-community-virus-case

Punching above its weight in global fight against Covid-19
Singapore has punched above its weight in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic with the expertise it provided to enable the rapid sharing of genomes of the virus. This not only helped the World Health Organisation (WHO) and governments around the world to respond faster, but also sped up the development of much-needed vaccines and diagnostic kits.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/punching-above-its-weight-in-global-fight-against-covid-19
*For more information, please visit the Ministry of Health (MOH) website at www.moh.gov.sg and refer to go.gov.sg/mohupdates for updates on the COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) situation