DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 2 Dec 2020 (Wed)

Singapore Real Estate

Retail landlords must reinvent the shopping mall to thrive in new normal
In recent years, retail landlords have been working to tweak their tenant mix by bringing in more activities and food & beverage (F&B) tenants, but the pandemic has shown that landlords have not been moving nearly swiftly enough to reinvent the shopping mall.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/retail-landlords-must-reinvent-the-shopping-mall-to-thrive-in-new-normal
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/the-mall-is-dead-long-live-the-mall

Get ready for a light collective sale season
Collective sale activities typically take place over short and intensive cycles, whenever developers’ appetite for land surpasses supply. Their appetite for land surges when their inventory runs low and the outlook for the market turns positive. Both of these factors are now in play on the back of stronger-than-expected new homes sales this year, despite the Covid-19 pandemic.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/get-ready-for-a-light-collective-sale-season

Singapore Economy

Companies’ leverage risk worsens as earnings fall and debt rises
Firms are at a greater risk of failing to meet their debt obligations as leverage risk continues to worsen on weaker earnings and rising debt. Even as firms ease short-term refinancing concerns through higher cash holdings, there is increased risk on debt sustainability in the longer term amid the slow and uneven economic recovery ahead, according to the annual Financial Stability Review by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on Tuesday.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/companies-leverage-risk-worsens-as-earnings-fall-and-debt-rises

Singapore Oct visitor arrivals up, but still at a minuscule 13,400
Visitor arrivals to Singapore jumped 41.1 per cent to 13,400 in October, though the tourism industry’s performance remains a vast distance away from pre-pandemic times, according to latest Singapore Tourism Board (STB) figures. October arrivals were up from 9,500 in September, but incomparable to the 1.53 million arrivals in October a year ago.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/singapore-oct-visitor-arrivals-up-but-still-at-a-minuscule-13400

Home loans need close tracking as GDP dip worsens household debt-to-GDP ratio: MAS
There is “close monitoring” required of the housing market, and in particular, mortgages from more vulnerable households, amid an uneven recovery in the labour market. This comes as household-debt-to-GDP, while resilient, has reversed from its pre-pandemic decline due to a sharply lower gross domestic product (GDP) this year, said the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in its annual Financial Stability Review released on Tuesday.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/home-loans-need-close-tracking-as-gdp-dip-worsens-household-debt-to-gdp-ratio-mas
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/mas-firms-banks-resilient-amid-pandemic-but-must-stay-prudent
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/more-families-could-find-it-tough-to-make-home-loan-payments

2021 to bring more corporate distress
There is more corporate distress ahead next year as private markets will draw a clearer line between enterprises that will survive, and those who are due to downsize or disappear in the midst of a pandemic-fuelled crisis. It is unclear if the bulk of such creative destruction will come through in 2021, said managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore Ravi Menon.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/2021-to-bring-more-corporate-distress

Hong Kong travel bubble launch put off till next year
The launch of the much-anticipated travel bubble to facilitate leisure travel between Singapore and Hong Kong has been further delayed amid a rising number of Covid-19 cases in Hong Kong. The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) said yesterday that both cities have decided to defer the start of the air travel bubble to beyond this month, as the number of local unlinked cases in Hong Kong is still high.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/hong-kong-travel-bubble-launch-put-off-till-next-year

S’pore, Tianjin sign pact to deepen cooperation in trade, development
Singapore and China’s northern port city of Tianjin will be deepening cooperation in sustainable and smart development, trade and investment, and people-to-people exchanges. The two sides yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) at the ninth Singapore-Tianjin Economic and Trade Council meeting, which was held virtually this year.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/spore-tianjin-sign-pact-to-deepen-cooperation-in-trade-development

Companies’ Brief

Mirae’s successful nix of its hotels’ purchase may sink other deals
MIRAE Global Asset Investment Co’s successful move to nix a US$5.8 billion purchase of 15 luxury US hotels from Dajia Insurance Co after arguing that the Covid-19 outbreak drained value out of the transaction, may pave the way for other firms to walk away from deals that they say were crippled by the pandemic.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/miraes-successful-nix-of-its-hotels-purchase-may-sink-other-deals

Views, Reviews, Forum & Others

Pandemic has forced cities to rethink urban mobility
Covid-19 could have a sustained influence on urban public transit, driving cities towards mobility that is cleaner, safer, faster, more equitable and more accessible. After months of a global health crisis, during which lives and businesses have been disrupted and personal transportation has been sent into hibernation, cities now have the impetus to rethink the basics of urban mobility.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/opinion/pandemic-has-forced-cities-to-rethink-urban-mobility

Is the future of money spelt CBDC?
CBDC. Get used to that acronym because you’re going to see a lot more of it. CBDC stands for “central bank digital currency”. How would it work? To take a simplified example, let’s say the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) issues a CBDC. It allows individuals to hold deposit accounts at the MAS, and everybody does.
https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/is-the-future-of-money-spelt-cbdc-0

MBS plays it safe as it gears up for return of Mice events
New tug machines to transport 60 chairs instead of 10. New electric vans to replace old ones powered by diesel. New mechanised sweepers to reduce overnight shifts for cleaning staff. These are examples of measures put in place by the Sands Expo and Convention Centre at Marina Bay Sands (MBS) in preparation for the reopening of meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (Mice) events.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/mbs-plays-it-safe-as-it-gears-up-for-return-of-mice-events

Update on COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) Situation

Cleaner at Changi Airport is sole community case
Kopitiam, Heavenly Wang at T3 added to list of places visited by infectious Covid-19 cases. A cleaner who works at the transit area of Changi Airport Terminal 3 has tested positive for Covid-19 and is the sole community case reported yesterday. She is 66 years old and lives in Yishun with her husband, who is unemployed, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) last night.

Vaccines key to re-igniting travel; Moderna vaccine could be in Singapore in December
The air travel bubble (ATB) between Singapore and Hong Kong is not going to happen soon, and some pundits think that this has raised the importance of having a vaccine to help restore confidence in international travel. But it won’t be a long wait for the Republic. American biotechnology company Moderna has already approached Singapore authorities to approve its Covid-19 vaccine here.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/transport/vaccines-key-to-re-igniting-travel-moderna-vaccine-could-be-in-singapore-in-december
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/moderna-seeking-hsa-approval-for-use-of-its-covid-19-vaccine-here
*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