DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 18th April 2019

Singapore Real Estate

UBS Singapore to take up entire office space at redeveloped Park Mall
Developer SingHaiyi Group and its joint-venture (JV) partners – Suntec Reit and Haiyi Holdings – on Wednesday announced that UBS Singapore has signed on to take up all the office space at the redeveloped Park Mall building, confirming a report by The Business Times (BT) on Apr 1 that the Swiss lender was mulling a consolidation of its Singapore office footprint.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/ubs-singapore-to-take-up-entire-office-space-at-redeveloped-park-mall
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/ubs-spore-taking-up-all-office-space-at-redeveloped-park-mall

Singapore Economy

Surprise export dive sparks fears of revision in GDP outlook
Regional economies were behind the shock double-digit drop in Singapore’s March exports, even as economists warned of a worsening drag on full-year economic growth. With Asia sneezing, the Republic may well be catching a cold from the chill that’s set into global electronics.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/surprise-export-dive-sparks-fears-of-revision-in-gdp-outlook
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/biggest-fall-in-non-oil-exports-since-2016
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/non-oil-exports-plunge-117-drop-largest-since-2016

Venezuela is world’s most miserable economy, Singapore is third-least: index
[Singapore] Inflation that’s projected to reach an eyeball-popping 8 million per cent this year has left Venezuela saddled with the title of the world’s most miserable economy. The embattled South American nation topped the rankings of Bloomberg’s Misery Index, which sums inflation and unemployment outlooks for 62 economies, for the fifth straight year.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/venezuela-is-worlds-most-miserable-economy-singapore-is-third-least-index
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/venezuela-ranked-worlds-most-miserable-economy-singapore-is-third-least

Companies’ Brief

Far East Hospitality to expand into Vietnam
Far East Hospitality (FEH) will expand into Vietnam in the next few years, as the Singapore hotelier bets on the country’s fast-growing tourism market. The company would like to have 1,000 keys in Vietnam in the next five years spread out across Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Da Nang, chief executive Arthur Kiong said at a media event on Wednesday.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/far-east-hospitality-to-expand-into-vietnam
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/far-east-hospitality-expands-into-vietnam-with-2-boutique-hotels-11455034

CWT Pte Ltd has not defaulted on rent, says MLT
Mapletree Logistics Trust (MLT) became the latest Singapore landlord to state that logistics provider CWT Pte Ltd, whose Hong Kong parent has failed to pay creditors, has not defaulted on its rental payments. Trust manager Mapletree Logistics Trust Management said on Tuesday night that CWT Pte Ltd had no arrears due to date from current tenancy agreements for five MLT properties at 5A Toh Guan Road East, 4 Pandan Avenue, 6 Fishery Port Road, 38 Tanjong Penjuru and 52 Tanjong Penjuru.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/cwt-pte-ltd-has-not-defaulted-on-rent-says-mlt

Jewel gives CapitaLand platform to showcase capabilities in pursuit of global growth
Jewel Changi Airport, which has created a global stage for some of Singapore’s best brands, is expected to start contributing to developer CapitaLand’s revenue from the second quarter of this year. Jewel is not the group’s biggest retail asset in its portfolio; for instance, Suzhou Center Mall and Raffles City Chongqing have a retail gross floor area (GFA) of about 300,000 square metres (sq m) and 230,000 sq m respectively.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/jewel-gives-capitaland-platform-to-showcase-capabilities-in-pursuit-of-global

Keppel Reit’s Q1 DPU dips 2.1%
Keppel Reit’s first quarter distribution per unit (DPU) fell 2.1 per cent to 1.39 Singapore cents from 1.42 cents in the corresponding quarter a year ago. Property income edged up 0.7 per cent year-on-year to S$40 million, while net property income inched up 0.3 per cent to S$31.3 million. Distribution to unitholders was down 1.9 per cent at S$47.3 million on the back of the impact of occupancy changes…
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/keppel-reits-q1-dpu-dips-21

Wee Cho Yaw tightens grip on property assets with UOL’s Marina Centre deal
Nearly two decades ago, Singapore’s banking tycoon Wee Cho Yaw almost lost all his hard-earned, non-core banking assets. Back in 2001, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) mandated the separation of banks’ financial and non-financial businesses to ensure that banks remained focused on their core businesses and competencies.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/wee-cho-yaw-tightens-grip-on-property-assets-with-uols-marina-centre-deal

Soilbuild Reit posts Q1 DPU of 1.198 Singapore cents
Soilbuild Business Space Reit on Wednesday declared a distribution per unit (DPU) of 1.198 Singapore cents for the first quarter ended March 31, down 9.5 per cent from 1.324 cents a year ago as expense increases outpaced revenue growth. The Reit saw higher gross revenue for the quarter of S$22.68 million, up 16.6 per cent year-on-year from S$19.45 million.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/soilbuild-reit-posts-q1-dpu-of-1198-singapore-cents

S$4.5b ticket to grow with Singapore is ‘cheap’: Genting chairman
Genting Singapore executive chairman Lim Kok Thay is confident about being picked to build a Singapore-style integrated resort in Japan. Just as confident as he was before Genting made a winning resort bid here in 2006, he told shareholders at the annual general meeting on Wednesday.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/s45b-ticket-to-grow-with-singapore-is-cheap-genting-chairman

Cache Logistics Trust to distribute portion of income from dispute resolution to unitholders
Out of some S$8.2 million that Cache Logistics Trust received in an earlier dispute resolution, about S$7.4 million qualifies for tax transparency with the rest being subject to tax, the real estate investment trust (Reit) manager announced on Wednesday night. The income qualifying for tax transparency, which Cache referred to as the rental shortfall amount, is attributable to the rental period from Sept 1, 2016 to Aug 31, 2021.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/cache-logistics-trust-to-distribute-portion-of-income-from-dispute-resolution-to

Views, Reviews, Forum & Others

Going islandwide is key to tourism sustainability
North, south, east, west – it seems that the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) is certainly spreading its eggs out with prominent large-scale projects across the island. But this is part of a strategic shift to weave tourism into areas where locals live, work and play, in an effort to persuade visitors in search of an authentic experience to spend more time here.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/opinion/going-islandwide-is-key-to-tourism-sustainability

Averting the retail apocalypse: A Singapore survival kit
The proliferation of e-commerce companies such as Qoo10, Lazada, Carousell and Redmart in Singapore has seen an emerging but alarming trend – the desertion of retail spaces. While Singapore is far from the retail apocalypse facing brick-and-mortar retailers such as Toys “R” Us in the United States, the stars are aligning in that ominous direction for retailers who fail to arm themselves ahead of the digital revolution.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/opinion/averting-the-retail-apocalypse-a-singapore-survival-kit