DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 23rd July 2019

Singapore Real Estate

Eu Yan Sang Building up for sale at S$62.5m guide price
The iconic Eu Yan Sang Building in Chinatown has been launched for sale with a guide price of S$62.5 million, the property’s exclusive marketing agent JLL said on Monday. Built in 1910, it housed the first traditional Chinese medicine Eu Yan Sang outlet in Singapore set up by its founder Eu Tong Sen. The building was designed by architect Alfred Bidwell from the firm Swan & Maclaren, whose other…
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/eu-yan-sang-building-up-for-sale-at-s625m-guide-price
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/iconic-eu-yan-sang-building-up-for-sale

S-Reits can no longer be seen as ‘low-risk’ if leverage limit is raised: OCBC
If the leverage limit for Singapore real estate investment trusts (S-Reits) is raised above the current 45 per cent, debt markets can no longer take a “broad-brush” approach and assume S-Reits are “low-risk”. Instead, Reits need to be assessed on a case by case basis as the financial discipline of their managers is crucial, said OCBC credit analyst Seow Zhi Qi. This was in response to the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS)…
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/s-reits-can-no-longer-be-seen-as-low-risk-if-leverage-limit-is-raised-ocbc
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/raising-leverage-limit-will-hit-reits-low-risk-image-analyst

Singapore Economy

Singapore employees seek 17% pay raise when switching jobs: report
Job seekers in Singapore are looking to get a 17 per cent bump in pay when they switch jobs, after averaging across industries and levels, said a report by RGF International Recruitment. Its survey found financial compensation to be the driving factor for 61 per cent of job seekers in Singapore, with 83 per cent of respondents saying they expect a salary increase.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/singapore-employees-seek-17-pay-raise-when-switching-jobs-report
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/singapore-job-seekers-expect-17-pay-rise-on-average-when-they-switch-jobs-survey

Companies’ Brief

MLT’s Q1 DPU edges up 3.5% on enlarged unit base
Accretive acquisitions in the previous financial year and the completed redevelopment of a Chinese logistics park lifted results for Mapletree Logistics Trust (MLT) for its first quarter. Its income available for distribution for unitholders for the three months to June 30 climbed 20.8 per cent to S$73.6 million, while available distribution per unit (DPU) inched up 3.5 per cent to 2.025 Singapore cents from 1.957 cents…
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/mlts-q1-dpu-edges-up-35-on-enlarged-unit-base

Frasers Commercial Trust’s Q3 DPU flat at 2.4 Singapore cents
Amid big-name comings and goings at Alexandra Technopark, Frasers Commercial Trust will be paying out 2.4 Singapore cents a unit for the three months to June 30. The third-quarter distribution per unit, which was flat year on year, came as net property income dipped by 3 per cent to S$19.8 million.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/frasers-commercial-trusts-q3-dpu-flat-at-24-singapore-cents

R&D tie-ups to work on smart cities innovation
Startups and small businesses here could be winners in smart cities innovation, through the latest urban solutions tie-ups between a public research body and two major Singapore state-linked companies. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that work with Surbana Jurong and ST Engineering stand to benefit from twin research and development agreements with the Agency for Science, Technology and…
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/rd-tie-ups-to-work-on-smart-cities-innovation

ESR-Reit Q2 DPU holds firm at 1.004 Singapore cents
ESR-Reit’s distribution per unit (DPU) was flat at 1.004 Singapore cents for its second quarter, up just 0.3 per cent from 1.001 cents a year ago, according to the industrial landlord’s Q2 results released on Monday. This translates to an annualised distribution yield of 7.6 per cent on the back of a more diversified portfolio with lower capital structure risks, said ESR-Reit’s manager.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/esr-reit-q2-dpu-holds-firm-at-1004-singapore-cents

Datapulse responds to SGX notice regarding hotel investments and management agreements
In response to a notice of compliance from the Singapore Exchange Regulation (SGX RegCo) on Friday, Datapulse Technology said on Monday that the basis for its recent investments in two hotels was to further its property business mandate. It received shareholder approval in March to expand the mandate to include acquisitions and investments in hotels and hospitality assets, whether by way of majority or…
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/datapulse-responds-to-sgx-notice-regarding-hotel-investments-and-management

Views, Reviews, Forum & Others

Commentary: What slowing growth means for the man in the street
Singapore: The big news two weeks ago was that Singapore’s economic growth had slowed to 0.1 per cent in the second quarter of this year – the slowest seen in a decade. The main drag was manufacturing, with the electronics and precision engineering sectors especially affected.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/commentary/what-does-singapore-slow-economy-growth-means-11737044

What Singapore’s slowing GDP growth means for the jobs market
Singapore: As Singapore’s outlook darkens with growth cooling to levels last seen a decade ago, there could be more retrenchments and fewer job vacancies ahead, said economists. The job losses will likely come from outward-oriented sectors, which have been hit by a protracted trade spat between the United States and China.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/business/gdp-growth-slow-singapore-jobs-market-11740674

Recession forecasts are so bad, they’re good
It’s no secret that economists are terrible at predicting recessions: a host of studies, along with a raft of anecdotal evidence, reveals a track record that is astonishingly bad. This has prompted a growing number of market watchers to conclude that forecasting recessions is a fool’s game. But there’s another way to look at this dismal record.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/opinion/recession-forecasts-are-so-bad-theyre-good
https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/recession-forecasts-are-so-bad-theyre-good

Signs of stress in the Asian financial system
The Asian debt crisis of 1997 devastated the region for many years, and was felt in markets throughout the world. The last tremors of the 2008 global banking crisis are still resonating. Now, financial media and other observers question whether rising debt levels in Asia can trigger a new crisis. Unfortunately, the signs are ominous, and the health of the real and financial sectors is deteriorating.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/opinion/signs-of-stress-in-the-asian-financial-system