Singapore Economy
Indonesia-S’pore business council to boost trade and networking
Singapore and Indonesia will set up a business council to boost bilateral cooperation and enhance networking among businesses. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced this at a news conference in Semarang on Monday after his meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo. He suggested that the council, which will involve business leaders from both countries, be co-chaired by Singapore’s Economic Development Board and Indonesia’s Investment Coordinating Board.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/indonesia-spore-business-council-to-boost-trade-and-networking
http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/pm-jokowi-open-township-project-in-boost-to-ties?login=true
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/singapore-and-indonesia-to-set-up-business-council-to-boost/3287048.html
http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/pm-lees-meeting-indonesias-president-widodo-economic-collaboration
S’pore to trial blockchain to speed up business payments
Singapore is set to pilot the use of blockchain for inter-bank settlements that could speed up business payments – a landmark trial likely to be detailed this week during the city-state’s first FinTech Festival. This could put the financial hub ahead of its peers, even as the festival – first of its kind in the world – has attracted some 11,000 participants, blowing past expectations by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). Speaking to reporters at the launch of DBS’s innovation facility, DBS chief Piyush Gupta said blockchain is among the pieces of technological innovation that has “immense possibilities”.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/banking-finance/spore-to-trial-blockchain-to-speed-up-business-payments
Financial players get to know customers better in IBM fintech project
Tech giant IBM has launched a blockchain project with Singapore financial technology (fintech) startup KYCK! so that financial-services providers can fall in with Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements sooner, and in a secure environment. Working with the IBM Bluemix Garage in Singapore to design and test the new solution, KYCK! aims to provide brokerages with a platform to bring new customers on board securely. The platform also aims to provide enhanced identification validation through a trusted blockchain.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/technology/financial-players-get-to-know-customers-better-in-ibm-fintech-project
Singapore Real Estate
Pegging office space investment to high vacancy periods
The Singapore real estate market has been volatile. Amid the cyclical nature of the market, we looked at data from 2000 to find the best years to buy an office building in Singapore and hold for five years. We found that these periods have generally coincided with periods of high vacancy rates. In 2001 to 2004 prime office rents fell 42 per cent, before rising 270 per cent in 2005 to 2007, then correcting downwards by 52 per cent in 2008 to 2009. In the last two years, prime office rents fell 18 per cent and JLL expects rents to fall another 10 per cent before recovering in 2017.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/pegging-office-space-investment-to-high-vacancy-periods
Lee Foundation-linked company sells shophouses
Several shophouse deals have been sealed recently. A Lee Foundation-linked company has sold a row of four freehold conservation shophouses along Outram Road for S$23.8 million to construction and property group Chiu Teng. In another deal, a pair of adjoining shophouses at 277 and 279 New Bridge Road – where Korean BBQ and steamboat restaurant Manbok operates on the ground floor – was sold for S$14.5 million.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/lee-foundation-linked-company-sells-shophouses
Part of lift ceiling in Pasir Ris block falls, injuring two
Technical producer Mohammad Yazid Razali was leaving his parents’ flat after dinner last Thursday when an ordinary lift ride nearly became a disaster. Part of the ceiling of the lift at Block 480, Pasir Ris Drive 4, fell and hit Mr Yazid, his 63-year-old father and his two-year-old son on their heads. “It just dropped on us suddenly. Everybody was shocked,” said Mr Yazid, 36, whose parents live in the block. While Mr Yazid escaped without injuries, his son suffered a bump on his head. His father was scratched by the metal panel, left dangling on a cable.
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/housing/part-of-lift-ceiling-in-pasir-ris-block-falls-injuring-two
Companies’ Brief
GIC invests S$192m in Seoul shopping complex
GIC said on Monday (Nov 14) that it has invested US$136 million (S$192.4 million) to acquire an interest in G-Square City Retail Complex, a high-quality retail mall in Seoul, South Korea. Completed in 2012, G-Square spans 238,248.43 square metres across 28 floors. The building is situated in a prime location in the centre of Anyang city, a metropolitan area of southern Seoul, with direct access to a subway line. The complex also includes a 34,681 sq m office tower. The mall is operated by Lotte Shopping Co, a retail operator with the largest number of department stores across South Korea. It will be managed by IGIS Asset Management, one of the country’s largest real estate management companies.
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/gic-invests-s192m-in-seoul-shopping-complex?login=true
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/gic-invests-s192m-in-seoul-shopping-complex
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/gic-invests-192m-in-seoul-retail-mall-g-square
Centurion Corporation Q3 profit up 6%
Well-performing worker and student accommodation businesses boosted results for Centurion Corporation in its third quarter. Net profit grew 6 per cent to S$7.8 million from the previous year, the group said in a Singapore Exchange filing on Monday evening. For the three months ended Sept 30, 2016, revenue increased 14 per cent to S$28.1 million from the previous year. The expansion in revenue was due mainly to its accommodation business which grew 18 per cent year on year, it said.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/centurion-corporation-q3-profit-up-6
Yanlord Land’s Q3 profit soars to 564m yuan on higher average selling price
Yanlord Land Group’s third-quarter net profit soared to 564.2 million yuan (S$116.7 million) – from 55.7 million yuan a year ago – on the back of significant increases in gross floor area delivered to customers and higher average selling price per square metre. Revenue for the three months ended Sept 30, 2016, almost doubled to 5.5 billion yuan from the nearly three billion yuan in Q3 2015. The growth in revenue was partly offset by the 12.9 million yuan loss incurred by an associate, that was mainly due to the finance cost incurred for acquisition of land parcels.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/yanlord-lands-q3-profit-soars-to-564m-yuan-on-higher-average-selling-price
Global Economy & Global Real Estate
Brexit has cost Britain S$116b in lost company spending: Study
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/brexit-has-cost-uk-s116b-in-lost-company-spending-study
U.S. inflation expectations flat, low in October: NY Fed survey
http://www.todayonline.com/business/us-inflation-expectations-flat-low-october-ny-fed-survey
Dollar hits 11-month high as U.S. bond yields jump
http://www.todayonline.com/business/dollar-highest-nine-months-risk-mood-remains-firmly-intact
China property investment up but market set to cool
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/china-property-investment-up-but-market-set-to-cool
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/chinas-oct-property-investment-growth-quickest-in-2-12-years
China’s Economy Holds Ground Amid Curbs to Cool Housing Market
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-14/china-s-economy-holds-ground-as-housing-curbs-start-to-bite
China’s industrial production up but retail growth slows
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/chinas-industrial-production-up-but-retail-growth-slows
Why Alibaba doesn’t want to emphasise that US$17.8b Singles’ Day sales figure
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/consumer/why-alibaba-doesnt-want-to-emphasise-that-us178b-singles-day-sales-figure
Stay calm and take stock of Manulife US Reit
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/stay-calm-and-take-stock-of-manulife-us-reit
Pace of M’sia’s 4.3% Q3 growth ‘tough to sustain’
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/pace-of-msias-43-q3-growth-tough-to-sustain
Japan economy grows twice as fast as expected in Q3
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/japan-economy-grows-twice-as-fast-as-expected-in-q3
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/japan-q3-growth-hits-22-beating-forecasts
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/japan-economy-grows-faster-than-expected-in-q3
http://www.todayonline.com/business/japan-economy-grows-faster-expected-boj-governor-warns-risks
Additional Articles of Interest – Local & Overseas Real Estate
Collective sales sputtering back to life
After a two-year drought with zero sales in 2014 and the lone en bloc deal of Thong Sia Building last year, the recent three deals topping $1 billion foreshadow an awakening of the collective sale market. “Based on a three-year snapshot, naturally $1 billion sounds like a lot,” says Karamjit Singh, JLL’s international director and head of residential. “But when compared with the preceding four years — from 2010 to 2013 — during which collective sales averaged $1.9 billion a year, it’s still low.”
http://www.theedgeproperty.com.sg/content/collective-sales-sputtering-back-life
Local & Overseas Real Estate – Full Article
http://business.asiaone.com/property/news
http://www.btinvest.com.sg/property
http://www.propertyguru.com.sg/market-news
http://www.srx.com.sg/singapore-property-news
http://www.stproperty.sg/articles-property/singapore-property-news/c/11
http://www.theedgeproperty.com.sg/property-news