Singapore Real Estate
Coworking clients up in arms over continued fees charged by some operators
Forced to suspend services for yet another month, coworking operators are facing more pressure to provide their members with rental relief. But many of these operators are themselves caught in years-long leases and still liable to pay rent to office landlords, exacerbating their financial woes amid Covid-19.
https://www.businesstimes.com.
Singapore Economy
Singapore food manufacturers scramble to comply with fresh rules
Singapore’s food manufacturers may be facing a rare test in the form of the Covid-19 crisis, as extensive shutdowns, supply chain and cash flow issues assail them from various quarters. Some food manufacturers, already trying to cope with the situation…
https://www.businesstimes.com.
Citi: Singapore economy set to shrink by 8.5% this year
Singapore will witness a deeper recession this year after the nation extended and tightened its partial lockdown, Citigroup warned, widening its forecast for an economic contraction. The city-state’s economy will contract by 8.5 per cent this year, down from an earlier estimate of a 6 per cent fall…
https://www.straitstimes.com/
Poll: Some fall short in sustainability reporting
Half of the finance leaders in Singapore said their companies fall short in reporting their triple bottom line of people, planet and profit. A report published yesterday by Workday, a financial management and human capital management software firm, showed that while the majority of finance leaders of large companies are producing the reports, just slightly over half believe their firms are doing a good job of reporting on aspects of sustainability.
https://www.straitstimes.com/
Companies’ Brief
ESR-Reit slashes Q1 DPU to 0.5 S cent, retains S$7m amid pandemic
The manager of ESR-Reit has more than halved the distribution per unit (DPU) to 0.5 Singapore cent for the first quarter ended March 31, 2020 from 1.007 cents a year ago. This came as it decided to retain about S$7 million of distributable income for the quarter for “prudent cash flow management”,
https://www.businesstimes.com.
https://www.straitstimes.com/
FCT posts 48.7% drop in Q2 DPU on enlarged base, retained earnings
Frasers Centrepoint Trust (FCT) on Thursday posted a second-quarter distribution per unit (DPU) of 1.61 Singapore cents, down 48.7 per cent from 3.137 cents a year ago. This was attributable to an enlarged unitholders base and higher amount of distributable income retained during the quarter, the manager said.
https://www.businesstimes.com.
Keppel Reit declares near flat Q1 DPU of 1.4 Singapore cents
Keppel Reit (real estate investment trust) has declared a distribution per unit (DPU) of 1.4 Singapore cents for the first quarter ended March 31, up a marginal 0.7 per cent from 1.39 Singapore cents in the year-ago period, the Reit’s manager announced on Wednesday after market close.
https://www.businesstimes.com.
Keppel-led group bags S$1.5b deal to develop integrated waste management plant
Singapore’s National Environment Agency has awarded a Keppel-led consortium an engineering, procurement and construction contract worth some S$1.5 billion. The contract is to develop a waste-to-energy (WTE) facility and a materials recovery facility (MRF) for Singapore’s new Tuas Nexus Integrated Waste Management Facility.
https://www.businesstimes.com.
https://www.straitstimes.com/
Mapletree Commercial Trust slashes Q4 payout for prudence’s sake
Mapletree Commercial Trust has declared a distribution per unit (DPU) of 0.91 Singapore cent for the fourth quarter ended March 31, down sharply from 2.31 Singapore cents in the year-ago period, despite a 10.5 per cent rise in distributable income.
https://www.businesstimes.com.
Parkway Life Reit’s DPU up 1.4% in Q1
Parkway Life Real Estate Investment Trust (PLife Reit) said its distribution per unit rose 1.4 per cent to 3.32 Singapore cents for its first quarter ended March 31, from 3.28 cents a year earlier, mainly due to additional revenue contribution from three Japan properties acquired in December 2019…
https://www.businesstimes.com.
Suntec Reit posts 27.7% fall in DPU for Q1; retains 10% of distributable income as virus crisis deepens in Q2
Suntec Real Estate Investment Trust (Suntec Reit) on Wednesday posted a 27.7 per cent drop in distribution per unit to 1.76 Singapore cents for the first quarter ended March 31, down from 2.434 cents a year earlier.
https://www.businesstimes.com.
Views, Reviews, Forum & Others
Market strategists see slow economic recovery amid prolonged Covid-19 lockdowns
As global authorities deliberate between reopening economies and protecting the population through confinement measures, recovery will be slower than expected. But there are still several bright spots amid the long drawn global pandemic, according to market strategists.
https://www.businesstimes.com.
Surge in PayNow Corp sign-ups as firms seek fast support payouts
With their shutters drawn and government relief pumped through digital channels, businesses in Singapore have been driven to adapt to electronic payments amid the Covid-19 crisis. As Singapore enters the third week of its “circuit breaker” – freshly extended till June 1 –
https://www.businesstimes.com.
Singapore hits its 2020 solar deployment target
Singapore achieved its 2020 solar deployment target of 350 megawatt-peak (MWp) in the first quarter of this year, the Energy Market Authority (EMA) and JTC said in a joint statement on Wednesday. This comes as the government and industry move to cleaner energy in light of worsening climate change.
https://www.businesstimes.com.
Emerging Stronger taskforce will have its work cut out in a bellicose world
The Emerging Stronger taskforce announced recently by Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat has received scant public attention amid the more pressing needs in the fight against Covid-19. It is, in fact, a key proactive initiative because once the pandemic ends the global economic landscape would surely have shifted, possibly in no small way.
https://www.businesstimes.com.
Now’s an opportune time to ramp up efforts to improve BCP
One lesson that’s quite apparent from the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak is undoubtedly the importance of having a robust Business Continuity Plan (BCP), reminding us that failure is not an option when you have failed to plan.
https://www.businesstimes.com.
Covid-19: Building a digital bridge to the new normal
As the Covid-19 pandemic disrupts nearly every aspect of life, enterprises are turning to digital technology and analytics to help them weather the crisis and prepare for new ways of operating and serving customers once we reach the other side.
https://www.businesstimes.com.
An extension for a stronger outcome
The month-long extension of the circuit breaker period to fight Covid-19, announced on Tuesday, will disappoint Singaporeans no doubt, but it is necessary to build on the gains achieved thus far and minimise the occurrence of a new outbreak, particularly one that emerges from a hidden reservoir of unlinked cases.
https://www.straitstimes.com/
Could it be time to swop fast car for slower, sturdier one?
During the Great Plague of London of 1665, as a social distancing measure, Cambridge University temporarily sent everyone home. One of the students, Isaac Newton, took literally the idea of work from home. During the lockdown, sitting in his family’s Lincolnshire house, the 23-year-old invented calculus…
https://www.straitstimes.com/
Singapore Budget 2020
Two schemes disburse over $490m in loans
More than 1,200 companies have taken government-assisted loans under two programmes meant to help businesses ride out the Covid-19 crisis. These loans total more than $490 million, said a spokesman for Enterprise Singapore (ESG).
https://www.straitstimes.com/
Update on COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) situation
1,016 new coronavirus cases here; Singaporean woman 12th person to die
An 84-year-old Singaporean woman has become the 12th person to die from complications due to the coronavirus, even as the number of patients with the infection here crossed the 10,000 mark on Wednesday.
https://www.businesstimes.com.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/
Coronavirus: New dorm cases to remain high as authorities focus on weak link
New daily cases of Covid-19 at foreign worker dormitories will remain high for many weeks to come, infectious diseases experts said yesterday.bBut this reflects the authorities’ tremendous efforts directed at this weak link rather than any lack of trying, said Professor Dale Fisher, a senior infectious diseases expert at the National University Hospital.
https://www.straitstimes.com/
Coronavirus: Workers given assurances on pay, food, medical treatment
Foreign workers who are confined to their dormitories for the next two weeks can rest assured that their salaries will be paid and their food and medical needs will be attended to, Minister for Home Affairs K. Shanmugam said yesterday.
https://www.straitstimes.com/
https://www.straitstimes.com/
Singapore’s circuit breaker is working but not as fast as hoped: Experts
The circuit breaker measures are working – but not as fast as hoped for, said Professor Teo Yik Ying, dean of the NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health. After more than two weeks, the number of new cases in the community should have been lower, he said.
https://www.straitstimes.com/
Safety measures will still be needed after June 1: Masagos
Life cannot go back to normal straight after the circuit breaker lifts and safety precautions must still be observed to stop the spread of Covid-19, said Minister-in-Charge of Muslim Affairs Masagos Zulkifli yesterday.
https://www.straitstimes.com/
Worksites could pose dengue risk at this time
As construction projects across the island have ground to a halt since the start of the circuit breaker measures about two weeks ago, residents have expressed concern that the idle worksites near their homes might now be hot spots for dengue transmission.
https://www.straitstimes.com/
Staff layoffs should be last resort, say experts
Companies confronting the downturn amid the pandemic have been implementing cost-cutting measures in recent weeks – with some cutting salaries of not just management staff, but also rank-and-file workers. In the light of this, experts are cautioning firms against layoffs without first taking other steps to keep things going.
https://www.straitstimes.com/
*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
Global Economy & Global Real Estate
US home sales post biggest monthly decline since 2015
https://www.businesstimes.com.
Trickle of bad UK property loans set to turn into a flood
https://www.businesstimes.com.
Coronavirus: Global container shipments set to fall 30% in next few months
https://www.straitstimes.com/
Negative oil prices breaking traders’ risk models
https://www.businesstimes.com.
Oil hits lowest since 1999 as coronavirus crisis hammers demand
https://www.businesstimes.com.
Dow ends 2% higher as US stocks rally with oil prices
https://www.straitstimes.com/
GIC, Equinix in $1.4b tie-up to build Japan data centres
https://www.straitstimes.com/
Latest Miami fashion accessory: a branded condo
https://www.businesstimes.com.
In Canada’s oil capital, a real estate glut compounds the misery
https://www.businesstimes.com.
Tianjin Eco-City plot sells for 1.17b yuan
https://www.businesstimes.com.
Japan’s coronavirus shutdowns pummel service, factory sectors: PMIs
https://www.straitstimes.com/
South Korea’s economy shrinks the most since 2008 from coronavirus pandemic
https://www.straitstimes.com/
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