DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 17th Oct 2019

Singapore Real Estate

Hong Leong’s Midwood condo to have preview ahead of Oct 26 launch
A six-day preview for Hong Leong Holdings’ new 564-unit Midwood condominium – in Hillview Rise near the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve – begins on Oct 19, ahead of its launch on Oct 26. Early-bird prices start from S$750,000 for a one-bedroom unit, S$1.015 million for a two-bedder, S$1.420 million for a three-bedder, and S$1.999 million for a four bedder.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/hong-leongs-midwood-condo-to-have-preview-ahead-of-oct-26-launch

Nassim Road GCB on sale for some S$175m
A two-storey conservation good class bungalow (GCB) located at 40 Nassim Road is up for sale via public tender with an indicative price in the region of S$175 million. The property, once occupied by the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, has a total land area of around 58,784 square feet (sq ft).
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/nassim-road-gcb-on-sale-for-some-s175m
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/nassim-road-bungalow-on-sale-at-175m-guide-price

Singapore property buyers increasingly taking ‘wait-and-see’ approach: poll
Singaporeans are increasingly adopting a “wait-and-see” approach when it comes to buying properties, according to findings from a PropertyGuru survey released on Wednesday. This cautious mentality was seen in its property purchase intent index – which measures the likelihood of respondents buying a Singapore property in the next six months. The index fell to an all time low in the first half of 2019 to 38…
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/singapore-property-buyers-increasingly-taking-wait-and-see-approach-poll
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/intent-to-purchase-property-weakens-in-singapore-survey

Singapore Economy

Singapore’s September non-oil exports continue falling streak with 8.1% drop
Singapore’s non-oil domestic exports (NODX) continued to fall in September, mainly due to lower exports to Europe, the United States and Japan, but showed a slight improvement over August and the five months of double-digit declines before that. NODX fell 8.1 per cent year on year last month, following a 9 per cent drop in August, Enterprise Singapore said on Thursday. Both electronics and non-electronics exports saw a decline.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/singapores-september-non-oil-exports-continue-falling-streak-with-81-drop
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/singapores-non-oil-exports-drop-81-per-cent-in-september-better-than-previous-month
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/business/exports-nodx-september-singapore-economy-electronic-12007466
https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/singapores-exports-down-81-september-7th-straight-month-decline

Companies’ Brief

CapitaLand eyes greater presence in China post-ASB merger
Opportunities have opened up for CapitaLand – following its merger with Ascendas-Singbridge (ASB) – to scale up in key city clusters in China and to widen its range of asset classes there, thus giving it a competitive advantage over other players. Lee Chee Koon, CapitaLand’s group chief executive, declared to The Business Times in an interview: “China will remain a key market for CapitaLand, and be the single…
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/capitaland-eyes-greater-presence-in-china-post-asb-merger

Frasers Property, Hitachi team up to drive digital transformation in Asia-Pac
Frasers Property Group and Hitachi Asia are investing up to S$50 million each to drive digital transformation in the Asia-Pacific real estate industry over the next five years. According to the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed in Bangkok, both companies will explore opportunities to accelerate digital transformation for Frasers Property and the real estate industry – starting first with…
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/frasers-property-hitachi-team-up-to-drive-digital-transformation-in-asia-pac

MCT proposing placements to raise at least S$902.3m to fund acquisition
Mapletree Commercial Trust (MCT) has proposed an equity fundraising to raise at least S$902.3 million to partially fund its S$1.55 billion acquisition of Mapletree Business City (Phase 2), its manager said on Wednesday. The Reit (real estate investment trust) manager also announced that it had obtained unitholders’ approval at an extraordinary general meeting on Tuesday for the proposed acquisition…
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/mct-proposing-placements-to-raise-at-least-s9023m-to-fund-acquisition
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/mct-prices-placement-at-rich-end-of-price-talk-at-s228-on-strong-demand
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/mapletree-trust-targets-9023m-in-equity-fund-raising

Higher rents, Seoul tower contribution boost Keppel Reit’s Q3 DPU by 2.9%
Higher rentals from Ocean Financial Centre and 275 George Street, and a full quarter of income contribution from T Tower in Seoul, acquired in May, as well as its unit buyback programme, lent a boost to Keppel Reit’s third quarter ended Sept 30. This was partially offset by lower revenue and earnings from Bugis Junction Towers, which Keppel Reit announced in August it was divesting for S$547.5 million…
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/higher-rents-seoul-tower-contribution-boost-keppel-reits-q3-dpu-by-29

Keppel unit, Allianz in S$1.3b Beijing deal
Keppel unit Alpha Investment Partners is jointly acquiring an 85 per cent interest in a Grade A office complex in Beijing with Allianz Real Estate for S$1.3 billion. Alpha is the private fund management arm of Keppel Capital – the asset management arm of Keppel Corp.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/keppel-unit-allianz-in-s13b-beijing-deal

Soilbuild Reit DPU falls 26% in Q3 after tenant default, rights issue
Soilbuild Business Space Reit on Wednesday posted a third-quarter distribution per unit (DPU) of 0.918 Singapore cent, down 26.3 per cent from 1.245 cents in the same period a year earlier. The decline was due mainly to the enlarged unit base after the industrial Reit’s recent preferential offering, as well as the cessation of revenue recognition from tenant NK Ingredients (NKI), which defaulted on its lease in July.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/soilbuild-reit-dpu-falls-26-in-q3-after-tenant-default-rights-issue

With 2 Singapore hotels in the bag, Hoi Hup aims for local portfolio
The price tag was almost half a billion dollars – a new record – but Hoi Hup Realty did not dither when offered the Andaz Singapore hotel in the Rochor area. “My chairman, Wong Swee Chun, went to see the place and really liked the hotel, so the deal went through quite quickly,” said Hoi Hup general manager Koon Wai Leong.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/with-2-singapore-hotels-in-the-bag-hoi-hup-aims-for-local-portfolio

Ascott Reit’s retail investors have big say in merger with A-HTrust
Many retail investors do not realise the importance of submitting their proxy forms or turning up at extraordinary general meetings (EGMs) and scheme meetings convened by companies. They assume that as minority shareholders they have little or no power to affect the voting outcomes of resolutions to be approved at EGMs. They can’t be more wrong.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/ascott-reits-retail-investors-have-big-say-in-merger-with-a-htrust

AA Reit plunges 7.4% after S$94.9m placement
Units of AIMS Apac Reit (AA Reit) dived to an eight-month low on Wednesday after the completion of its sponsor’s bookbuilding process and secondary placement. The industrial real estate investment trust (Reit) ended the day at S$1.37, down 11 cents or 7.43 per cent from Tuesday’s close. This is its lowest price since Feb 13.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/aa-reit-plunges-74-after-s949m-placement