DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 15th August 2017

Singapore Real Estate

Tackling ethnocentrism in Reit IPOs
Chinese-backed real estate investment trusts (Reits) and property trusts still find themselves battling wariness and scepticism from the investment community which remembers the S-chip scandals of 2009.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/tackling-ethnocentrism-in-reit-ipos

Shadow over HK real estate puts Singapore property stocks ahead
Hong Kong’s property stocks are cheaper than Singapore’s, although not cheap enough to account for the risk that the world’s least affordable city could have a housing crash. That is according to analysts and money managers from Nomura Holdings Inc to Janus Henderson Group plc. In Singapore, some are seeing signs of a market bottom after years of home price declines. Hong Kong, where any let-up in government cooling measures looks unlikely in the short term, may be teetering on the edge of a slump, with Morgan Stanley among those seeing a risk of multi-year declines.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/shadow-over-hk-real-estate-puts-singapore-property-stocks-ahead
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/a-tale-of-two-cities-property-stocks

Sentosa Cove home sales up as prices fall
Recent sale prices for bungalows in Sentosa Cove – one of the poshest addresses here – have fallen to levels similar to those of mass market condos on a per sq foot (psf) basis. The declines, of nearly 20 per cent from a year earlier, reflect the slide in the broader luxury segment.
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/sentosa-cove-home-sales-up-as-prices-fall

Embrace use of smoke alarms
There is no smoke without fire, which is why all new homes will have to be installed with a smoke alarm from June next year, The Straits Times understands. This warning device, mandatory in some countries, will help to prevent injuries from fires, two-thirds of which occur in homes. Last year, 62 people were injured by fire, 26 of whom suffered smoke inhalation.
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/housing/embrace-use-of-smoke-alarms

REITs’ yield more attractive than rental yield of individual investors: SGX
For investors seeking an asset class that “fares more attractively than the average rental yield”, Singapore Exchange’s (SGX) head of research and products, Mr Chan Kum Kong, said Singapore real estate investment trusts (S-REITs) is an “interesting segment”.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/reits-yield-more-attractive-than-rental-yield-of-individual-9122682

URA seeks new public bench designs in competition
Have a design in mind for a public bench? Now you can tell it to the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), which on Monday (Aug 14) launched a competition seeking new bench designs. The benches will be made from remaining seating planks salvaged from the former National Stadium.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/ura-seeks-new-public-bench-designs-in-competition-9121206

Companies’ Brief

GIC names its first chief technology officer
Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC on Monday named Ms Wu Choy Peng as its first chief technology officer. GIC said the new position was created to “augment its leadership bench as it prepares for an environment of increasing disruptive innovation”.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/gic-names-its-first-chief-technology-officer
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/gic-names-wu-choy-peng-to-newly-created-post-of-chief-technology-officer
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/gic-names-wu-choy-peng-to-newly-created-post-of-chief-technology-officer?login=true
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/gic-appoints-first-chief-technology-officer

Ex-KepReit chief appointed as MD and CIO at Lendlease
Former Keppel Reit Management chief Ng Hsueh Ling has been appointed managing director (Singapore) and chief investment officer (Asia) at Lendlease, the Australia-listed property group announced on Monday. This follows a report in March that she had left Keppel Corporation at the end of January, just before she was to assume a newly carved out role at the Keppel group as director of new businesses.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/ex-kepreit-chief-appointed-as-md-and-cio-at-lendlease
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/former-k-reit-chief-ng-hsueh-ling-appointed-md-cio-at-lendlease

Frasers Property Australia part of consortium to develop mixed tenure community in Sydney
A consortium consisting of developer Frasers Property Australia, Citta Property Group and community housing provider Mission Australia Housing, has been appointed by the New South Wales (NSW) government to develop a new mixed tenure community in Sydney’s Macquarie Park, with an estimated end value of A$2.2 billion (S$2.36 billion).
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/frasers-property-australia-part-of-consortium-to-develop-mixed-tenure-community-in
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/frasers-australia-unit-joins-22-billion-urban-renewal-development-project

Straits Trading posts 28.7% rise in Q2 profit
The Straits Trading Company Limited posted a 28.7 per cent rise in net profit for the second quarter ended June 30 to S$8.5 million amid a turnaround in the profitability of its resources and hospitality segments from a year ago.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/straits-trading-posts-287-rise-in-q2-profit
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/straits-trading-lifts-earnings-despite-sharp-fall-in-turnover

Sinarmas Land posts 78.7% surge in Q2 profit
Sinarmas Land Limited reported on Monday a 78.7 per cent surge in net profit for the second quarter ended June 30 to S$63 million as it clocked higher revenue and better operating performance from its Indonesia division.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/sinarmas-land-posts-787-surge-in-q2-profit
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/sinarmas-lands-quarterly-profit-surges
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/sinarmas-lands-q2-earnings-up-788

Yanlord Land’s Q2 net profit up 43%
China-based property developer Yanlord Land Group posted a net profit of 462.5 million yuan (S$94.4 million) for its second quarter ended June 30, up 43 per cent from a year ago. This group said that its rise in profit was mainly due to the change in product mix composition to include a large percentage of higher-profit-margin projects as well as the increase in revenue from sales of car parks.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/yanlord-lands-q2-net-profit-up-43
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/q2-profit-up-by-43-for-yanlord-as-chinese-real-estate-market-thrives

Uni-Asia H1 bottomline swells to US$4.8m
Increases in charter income, hotel income, and investment returns lifted results for Uni-Asia Group Ltd in its first half, it said in a Singapore Exchange (SGX) filing on Monday evening. The group, which is an alternative investment company and integrated service provider of vessels and properties, said H1 net profits attributable to the owners rose 20-fold to US$4.8 million from US$235,000 in the previous year.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/uni-asia-h1-bottomline-swells-to-us48m

Views, Reviews & Forum

The curse of America’s middle-aged capitalism
A persisting puzzle about the US economy is how it can seem both strong and weak. On the one hand, it remains a citadel of innovation, producing new companies such as Uber. On the other, the economy is expanding at a snail’s pace of 2 per cent annually since 2010. How could both be true? Why isn’t innovation translating into faster growth? The answer – or part of the answer – is that American businesses are running on two separate tracks. Call them the “youthful” and “middle-aged” tracks.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/opinion/the-curse-of-americas-middle-aged-capitalism

India’s economy: a story of success, failure, hope
On the eve of India’s independence from Britain 70 years ago, The Times of India reported “frenzied enthusiasm” and “wild scenes of jubilation” across the land. But despite the triumph of having overthrown colonial rule, the country was in a dire state. It had just been split into two nations – India and Pakistan – a division that was marked by the biggest migration in history and the slaughter of more than a million people, which left behind political wounds that have yet to heal.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/opinion/indias-economy-a-story-of-success-failure-hope

Commentary: Singapore’s Smart Nation vision blurry without a success story
It was just three years ago, in 2014, that Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong unveiled the Smart Nation vision for the country. In his speech then, Mr Lee said: “Therefore our vision is for Singapore to be a Smart Nation – a nation where people live meaningful and fulfilled lives, enabled seamlessly by technology, offering exciting opportunities for all.”
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/commentary-singapore-s-smart-nation-vision-blurry-without-a-9122400

Chinese quest for technology is aimed at dominance
In Chinese schools, students learn that the United States became a great nation partly by stealing technology from Britain. In the halls of government, officials speak of the need to inspire innovation by protecting inventions. In boardrooms, executives strategise about using infringement laws to fell foreign rivals.
http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/chinese-quest-for-technology-is-aimed-at-dominance

Time to monitor ‘influencer marketing’ trend: The Nation
How easy is it to become an “influencer” nowadays? If luck is on your side, it can be extremely easy. More money than one can ever dream of will pour in. Then tax authorities are very likely to follow, along with some ethical questions like whether it is all right to pose with a bottle of beer and upload it to Instagram, or whether it is perfectly justifiable to tax the poster.
http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/time-to-monitor-influencer-marketing-trend-the-nation