DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 22nd May 2019

Singapore Real Estate

Singapore bucks weak commercial property market in Q1
Singapore escaped the downtrend that caught every other major national Asia-Pacific (Apac) real estate market in the first quarter of this year, with commercial real estate investment jumping 72 per cent year-on-year to US$1.9 billion, data released by Real Capital Analytics (RCA) on Tuesday showed. “While the last three months of 2018 were dominated by a handful of major deals in the industrial sector…
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/singapore-bucks-weak-commercial-property-market-in-q1
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/singapore-commercial-property-investment-jumps-72

Spaces opens new locations in Somerset, Clarke Quay
Spaces, owned by flexible workspace provider IWG, has opened two new locations in Singapore, at TripleOne Somerset and Clarke Quay. This brings the number of locations that it has to four, with plans to open an additional two more by year-end. The TripleOne Somerset branch has a blue-chip tenant list which includes luxury and lifestyle brands such as Gucci, Casio and Samsonite.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/spaces-opens-new-locations-in-somerset-clarke-quay
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/spaces-opens-new-co-working-locations-in-somerset-and-clarke-quay

Singapore Economy

Singapore growth downgraded as trade war threatens economy, business
Businesses are in for stormy times this year as dark clouds loom over Singapore’s economic prospects, with the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) downgrading its full-year growth forecast to 1.5 to 2.5 per cent after the results of just one quarter, from an earlier 1.5 to 3.5 per cent. This confirmed what many companies predicted earlier, with many hit by uncertainties from the US-China trade war, a slowdown in China, and the fading of the global tech electronics cycle.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/singapore-growth-downgraded-as-trade-war-threatens-economy-business
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/spore-downgrades-growth-forecast-as-economy-slows
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/real-gdp-now-more-reflective-of-prevailing-conditions
https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/hopes-recovery-singapore-second-half-2019-have-dimmed-economists

ESG cuts exports forecast range to 0 to -2% contraction following 6.4% Q1 drop
The official non-oil domestic export growth forecast for this year has been trimmed – following a sharper drop in the NODX in the first three months of the year. Enterprise Singapore (ESG), the government’s trade promotion arm, now projects NODX to fall up to 2.0 per cent year-on-year in 2019, or stay flat at best – a downward tweak from the previous growth forecast of 0.0 to 2.0 per cent. NODX grew 4.2 per cent in 2018.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/esg-cuts-exports-forecast-range-to-0-to-2-contraction-following-64-q1-drop
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/full-year-forecast-for-non-oil-exports-cut-after-q1-setback

Singdollar to hit 1.40 to USD later this year as trade tensions worsen: analysts
The Singapore dollar is poised to fall further to 1.40 per US dollar in the next few months as rising US-China tensions cloud growth prospects, analysts said. The SGD was quoted at 1.3772 against the USD at 2.27pm but drifted lower to 1.3787 later in the day, according to Bloomberg.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/singdollar-to-hit-140-to-usd-later-this-year-as-trade-tensions-worsen-analysts
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/singdollar-to-fall-to-140-per-usd-later-this-year-as-economy-slows-dbs

Tech adoption linked to better performance in firms
The adoption of more digital technologies by firms, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), is linked to better performance in terms of value-added and productivity, according to a study by economists from the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI). At the same time, it was found that the pick-up of advanced tools such as e-commerce, data analytics and the Internet of Things (IOT) remains low, with SMEs the main cause for this phenomenon.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/tech-adoption-linked-to-better-performance-in-firms

Singapore’s inflation trends stable
Education and healthcare costs have been the key domestic inflation drivers in recent years, but overall prices here have remained relatively low, despite turbulence and uncertainty in the global economy, say analysts. The consumer price index (CPI) figures are released every month to track how much the prices of goods have changed, compared with the same period the year before. But it is not always clear what these figures mean for Singaporeans.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/spores-inflation-trends-stable

Companies’ Brief

Oxley expecting sale completion of Chevron House by first quarter of 2020
Oxley Holdings will complete asset enhancement initiative (AEI) works on Chevron House and expects to achieve final completion of the sale of the 32-storey Raffles Place commercial building no later than the first quarter of 2020. It will also divest the retail and banking units “as soon as practicable, taking into consideration market conditions” but will do so before the final completion, the highly-geared developer said on Tuesday in response to Singapore Exchange queries.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/oxley-expecting-sale-completion-of-chevron-house-by-first-quarter-of-2020

Three key residential division execs to leave Knight Frank
Three senior executives from Knight Frank’s residential business will be exiting the property firm, leaving leadership in its project marketing team particularly hard hit. According to an internal memo seen by The Business Times, Tan Tee Khoon, key executive officer (KEO) of agency arm KF Property Network and head of residential project marketing for Knight Frank, will leave in June to pursue other professional interests.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/three-key-residential-division-execs-to-leave-knight-frank

ST Telemedia JV building 7b baht Bangkok data centre
ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (STT GDC) and Frasers Property (Thailand) Public Company (FPT) are investing seven billion baht (S$302 million) to build a data centre development in Bangkok. The move builds on the joint venture partnership announced in April last year with Thai developer FPT, which was then known as Ticon. ST Telemedia owns STT GDC.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/st-telemedia-jv-building-7b-baht-bangkok-data-centre
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/st-telemedia-arm-and-frasers-property-thailand-to-develop-302m-data

GIC, Blackstone among final bidders for Anbang’s portfolio of 15 hotels, FT says
[New York] Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC and Blackstone Group were among bidders for a portfolio of 15 hotels owned by Anbang Insurance Group Co., the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed sources. Anbang, under temporary control of Chinese government regulators, received offers of as much as US$5.8 billion, the paper said.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/gic-blackstone-among-final-bidders-for-anbangs-portfolio-of-15-hotels-ft-says
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/gic-blackstone-among-final-bidders-for-anbang-portfolio-of-15-hotels-ft-says

First Sponsor unit completes acquisition of 60% stake in Guangdong land
Mainboard-listed First Sponsor’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Wenjiang (BVI), has completed its acquisition of 60 per cent of the shares in Concord Focus Development, the Singapore-based property developer said on Monday night. Concord owns a mixed-use development site in China’s Guangdong province comprising three land parcels with a total site area of 36,405 square metres.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/first-sponsor-unit-completes-acquisition-of-60-stake-in-guangdong-land

Views, Reviews, Forum & Others

Singapore, Malaysia to defer Johor Baru-Woodlands Link till Sept 30
Singapore and Malaysia have signed an agreement to defer construction of a cross-border MRT link up until Sept 30 this year. As part of the deal, Malaysia will also reimburse Singapore more than S$600,000 – for abortive costs incurred as a result of the six-month suspension of the planned Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/transport/singapore-malaysia-to-defer-johor-baru-woodlands-link-till-sept-30
https://www.straitstimes.com/politics/work-on-rts-link-put-off-until-sept-30
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/spore-kl-to-suspend-rts-link-work-until-end-sept
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/rts-link-singapore-malaysia-suspends-johor-bahru-11542908
https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/jb-spore-rts-link-project-be-suspended-till-end-sept

Extensive works required for HIP upgrading
We thank Mr Victor Tan Thiam Siew for his feedback (Review Home Improvement Programme processes, May 11). The Home Improvement Programme (HIP) offers residents improvements within their flats and addresses some of the common maintenance issues in older flats.
https://www.straitstimes.com/forum/letters-in-print/extensive-works-required-for-hip-upgrading

New Funan mall lets cyclists ride through it
Visitors will not only be able to walk into the new Funan mall when it opens next month, but they will also be able to cycle in it. The revamped complex will feature a 200m cycling path that runs through and around it, making the mall the first in Singapore to offer cyclists and personal mobility device (PMD) users such access.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/new-funan-mall-lets-cyclists-ride-through-it