DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 15th June 2016

Singapore Economy

S’pore braces for a Brexit pounding
A Pounding – that’s what’s in store for financial and currency markets in the near term, should a Brexit vote materialise. But for the long run, the implications of Britain leaving the European Union (EU) – and its impact on Singapore – are far less clear, and add to risks already facing the economy.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/spore-braces-for-a-brexit-pounding

A tough call, even in Singapore
Even among members of the British Chamber of Commerce (BritCham) Singapore, the view on Brexit is unclear – with would-be voters switching their decisions within an hour. At a Brexit debate organised by BritCham on Tuesday, more than 150 participants were asked to indicate how they would vote at the upcoming European Union (EU) referendum in two mock polls – one held before, and the other , at the end of the debate.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/a-tough-call-even-in-singapore

Investors turn risk-averse as two key events loom
Investors have pulled out of risk markets in recent days to await nailbiters in the week ahead at the US Federal Reserve and in Britain. Equity markets retreated around the world. The Straits Times Index, Singapore’s main equity benchmark, fell for the fourth straight session on Tuesday to 2,768.33. In the United States, the S&P 500 closed on June 13 at 2,079.06, also its fourth straight decline.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/investors-turn-risk-averse-as-two-key-events-loom

Govt sets aside extra S$14m each year to help PMETs find new jobs
Local professionals, managers, executives and technicians, a group collectively called PMETs, will be given help to find jobs in new industries. To this end, the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) will set aside an additional S$14 million each year over the next two years to equip this group with new job skills so they can make a new start. This was announced by Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say at an Adapt and Grow Career Fair at the Lifelong Learning Institute on Tuesday.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/govt-sets-aside-extra-s14m-each-year-to-help-pmets-find-new-jobs
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/14m-boost-for-pmets-to-start-new-careers
http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/new-training-programmes-launched-retail-food-services-and-mice-industries

Singapore Real Estate

S$2,248 psf ppr reserve price for Katong Shopping Centre seen as lofty
Katong Shopping Centre is being launched for collective sale through tender on Thursday with a reserve price of S$630 million. This works out to S$2,248 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr) based on the development’s existing gross floor area (GFA) of 280,203 square feet (sq ft). Currently the building’s usage is full commercial and its existing GFA reflects a 3.223 plot ratio, as confirmed by a baseline report, said Cushman & Wakefield (C&W), which is marketing the collective sale of the property.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/s2248-psf-ppr-reserve-price-for-katong-shopping-centre-seen-as-lofty

SilverNeedle opens Sage Hotel in Perth
Singapore-based hotel group, SilverNeedle, has opened its new Sage Hotel in West Perth, bringing the number of Sage Hotels it has in Australia to three. In addition, there are two more new builds in the pipeline for 2017, to be located in Brisbane and Melbourne. The A$35 million (S$35 million) development undertaken by SilverNeedle in partnership with Perth private property development and investment group Australian Development Capital, opened over two weeks ago. It also signals the entry of the Sage Hotel brand into the upscale and burgeoning hotel segment in Perth.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/silverneedle-opens-sage-hotel-in-perth

Delicensed projects buoy CCR resale prices, volumes
SRX Property’s resale price sub-index for non-landed private homes in Core Central Region (CCR) in May 2016 was up 4.7 per cent from a year ago. Over the same period, its sub-index for the city fringe or Rest of Central Region (RCR) inched up 0.6 per cent while the sub-index for the suburbs or Outside Central Region (OCR) contracted 2.0 per cent.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/delicensed-projects-buoy-ccr-resale-prices-volumes
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/condo-resale-market-active-in-may
http://www.todayonline.com/business/may-resale-home-volume-jumps-while-prices-edge-higher
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/resale-prices-for-private/2870618.html

Singapore ranks 2nd among global cities for green buildings
Paris, Singapore and London hold the top three spots in a ranking of global cities for green buildings in a recent White Paper published by management consultancy firm Solidiance. The White Paper aimed to assess and compare the performance of top 10 global cities in relation to green buildings. According to Solidiance, Green buildings are one of the most important elements in the discussion of sustainable development. Accounting for more than 40 per cent of energy use and responsible for an estimated 30 per cent of city-wide emissions, buildings make up the largest energy-consuming sector worldwide.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/singapore-ranks-2nd-among-global-cities-for-green-buildings

Raffles Medical opens new facility in Holland V
Raffles Medical Group (RMG) opened an integrated medical centre in Holland Village yesterday. The 9,000 sq ft facility takes up the entire fifth floor at RMG’s new Raffles Holland V mall and offers health screening, family medicine, dental care, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and specialist services. The mall, which is RMG’s first property venture, will also have food and beverage offerings when it opens in August. Its tenants include Haakon Superfoods and Juice, Soup Restaurant, Hoshino Coffee and Sushi Tei.
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/raffles-medical-opens-new-facility-in-holland-v

Companies’ Brief

Changjiang’s RTO deals include another property
Changjiang Fertilizer Holdings, a cash company whose share trading has been suspended since April 17, 2015, has taken another step in its bid to transform itself into a real estate developer and investor. It announced on Tuesday a proposal to acquire a 50 per cent stake in privately-held Chiu Teng 8 (CT8) – the developer of a light industrial building known as Tagore 8 – for S$9.67 million. This transaction, together with two other proposed acquisitions announced in April this year, will constitute a very substantial acquisition or a reverse takeover (RTO) if all of the proposed deals proceed to completion, said Changjiang.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/changjiangs-rto-deals-include-another-property

Soilbuild Business Space Reit
SB Reit Management, the manager of Soilbuild Business Space Real Estate Investment Trust, has entered into an agreement with SB (Westview) Investment to acquire Bukit Batok Connection for $96.3 million. The property at 2 Bukit Batok Street 23 is a nine-storey clean and light industrial development held under a state lease. Once the deal is completed, Soilbuild Reit will enter into a master lease agreement to lease the property back to SB Westview for seven years.
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/company-briefs-sats-0

Views, Reviews & Forum

Foreign demand driving largest real estate deals
In a market dogged by supply concerns, falling yields and economic uncertainty, one thing is comforting – the deals are still coming. The latest, the sale of Asia Square Tower 1 to Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) for $3.4 billion last week, caps a busy few weeks. The deals included the $638 million sale of Shunfu Ville to Chinese developer Qingjian Realty, Indonesian tycoon Tahir buying Straits Trading Building for $560 million and Hong Kong-listed Shun Tak Holding snapping up a Cuscaden Road bungalow for $145 million.
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/foreign-demand-driving-largest-real-estate-deals

Lotte talks up duty-free business as probes widen
Lotte Group, South Korea’s fifth-largest family-run conglomerate, is under growing pressure to bolster its duty-free shopping business after shelving one of the year’s biggest initial public offerings in the midst of a deepening crisis. Hotel Lotte Co, one of the group’s main units, singled out the importance of its duty-free expansion on Monday after scrapping an IPO worth as much as US$4.5 billion. The renewed focus on the business, which accounted for almost 90 per cent of the hotel unit’s profits last year, highlights Lotte’s limited options as probes into the company widen.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/consumer/lotte-talks-up-duty-free-business-as-probes-widen