DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 19 May 2020 (Tue)

Singapore Real Estate

Nassim bungalow put on market with asking price of over S$41m
LMG Realty, now part of BRC Asia, has put on the market a soon-to-be completed freehold bungalow on Nassim Road. The asking price is in excess of S$41 million or S$3,084 per square foot based on the land area of 13,293 sq ft, says Savills Singapore’s deputy managing director of capital markets, Galven Tan. Savills has been appointed as the exclusive marketing agent for the property.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/nassim-bungalow-put-on-market-with-asking-price-of-over-s41m

Singapore Economy

Jump in pharma exports lifts Singapore NODX in April
Economists appear mixed on how Singapore’s exports will continue to perform in the coming months, even though April’s data posted a third straight month of expansion thanks to a surge in pharmaceuticals amid the pandemic. Non-oil domestic exports rose 9.7 per cent year-on-year in April, according to data from Enterprise Singapore (ESG) on Monday, easing from March’s 17.6 per cent expansion.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/jump-in-pharma-exports-lifts-singapore-nodx-in-april
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/non-oil-exports-up-in-april-due-to-surge-in-pharma-sector

Companies’ Brief

ARA-backed crowdfunding platform sees debut property investment tranche snapped up in 11 minutes
The first public tranche of the debut property investment product launched by crowdfunding platform Minterest was snapped up in 11 minutes by yield-hungry investors, the crowdfunding platform’s new majority shareholder ARA Asset Management said on Monday.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/ara-backed-crowdfunding-platform-sees-debut-property-investment-tranche-snapped-up

Mapletree gives helping hand to those on no-pay leave
Mapletree has raised more than S$85,000 under its Mapletree Community Sharing Fund (MCSF), the group’s Corporate Social Responsibility initiative. The amount was pooled from the Solidarity Payment of more than 100 Mapletree staff on a voluntary basis. Hiew Yoon Khong, Mapletree’s group chief executive officer, shared that the MCSF is a collaborative effort from the management and staff.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/sme/mapletree-gives-helping-hand-to-those-on-no-pay-leave

UOL managers and above taking pay cut of up to 18% to manage costs
Property developer UOL on Monday announced a salary reduction of up to 18 per cent for managers and above, including senior management, effective from April 1, 2020 to help the company manage costs.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/uol-managers-and-above-taking-pay-cut-of-up-to-18-to-manage-costs

Views, Reviews, Forum & Others

Agility, resilience needed for a post-Covid world
The Covid-19 pandemic has left us with an unpredictable and fluid economy. We are entrenched in a global crisis that is spiralling into a recession, the likes of which not many have experienced in their lifetime. Since end-2019, the Covid-19 pandemic has infected well over four million people globally, taken hundreds of thousands of lives, and paralysed global supply chains.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/opinion/agility-resilience-needed-for-a-post-covid-world

Exiting the pandemic will require more, not less, integration
Global markets had begun the new year with cautious optimism that world economic growth could be sustained, following progress in January on a trade deal between the US and China, the two economic powerhouses of our time. By March, as concern of a sharp downturn resulting from Covid-19 led to one of the worst quarters for equities in over a decade, many were contemplating quite a different worldview.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/opinion/exiting-the-pandemic-will-require-more-not-less-integration

No spike in April 2020 numbers for business cessations
We refer to the article “Over 8,500 business entities close shop in April; highest in recent years” (The Business Times, May 11, 2020), which reported that the number of business entities that closed in April 2020 as being more than double the number of cessations in March 2020, citing data from BizInsights.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/opinion/no-spike-in-april-2020-numbers-for-business-cessations

One in 2 SMEs see falling sales for next 12 months: poll
Singapore businesses appear to be bracing themselves for a slow recovery post-Covid-19, with nearly one in two surveyed in April expecting sales for the next 12 months to fall year-on-year.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/sme/one-in-2-smes-see-falling-sales-for-next-12-months-poll

Tech talent in demand more than ever during pandemic
While the pandemic has cast a pall on the employment market, the demand for tech professionals is stronger than ever, as companies look to accelerate their digitalisation efforts amid the slowdown, industry watchers tell The Business Times.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/tech-talent-in-demand-more-than-ever-during-pandemic

Update on COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) Situation

Coronavirus: 2 new Singaporean cases, 4 new clusters
A 58-year-old woman who went to work at Bishan MRT station was among two new Singaporean coronavirus cases announced on Monday. The other is a 50-year-old man who went to work in Tai Seng. The 305 new confirmed cases on Monday are the lowest Singapore has recorded for over a month – since April 12 when there were 233 new cases.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/coronavirus-2-new-singaporean-cases-4-new-clusters
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/woman-who-went-to-work-at-bishan-mrt-station-among-two-new-cases

International unity and cooperation key in coronavirus fight: Gan Kim Yong
Health Minister Gan Kim Yong yesterday called on countries to learn from and cooperate with one another in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. Speaking at the 73rd World Health Assembly yesterday, he said Covid-19 is a challenge that no single country can overcome on its own.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/international-unity-and-cooperation-key-in-virus-fight-gan

Coronavirus: Foreign construction workers in flats may now leave home
From today, about 85,000 foreign construction workers staying in Housing Board flats and private residences, including shophouses, can leave their homes, with the ending of their stay-home notice (SHN) at 11.59pm yesterday.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/foreign-construction-workers-in-flats-may-now-leave-home
*For more information, please visit the Ministry of Health (MOH) website at www.moh.gov.sg and refer to go.gov.sg/mohupdates for updates on the COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) situation