DAILY NEWS

Daily News 22nd, 23rd and 24th October 2016

Singapore Economy

Inflation set to fall for 23rd straight month: Poll
Singapore’s consumer price index (CPI) is expected to have dropped for a 23rd straight month in September from a year earlier, although the rate of decline likely moderated from recent months, a Reuters poll showed. The median forecast from a Reuters survey of 11 economists was for the all-items CPI to have fallen 0.2 per cent last month from a year ago, after declining 0.3 per cent in August. That would be the smallest annual drop for the index since December 2014, when CPI fell 0.1 per cent.
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/inflation-set-to-fall-for-23rd-straight-month-poll

Retailers get boost with halal e-marketAn e-commerce marketplace specialising in halal goods and services was launched here yesterday, giving small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) a leg up in an increasingly competitive environment. With nearly 60 merchants on board, including 55 SMEs, the launch of Aladdin Street gels with the Government’s push for retail firms to use e-commerce to reach out to more customers. The platform, which will eventually have offices in 30 countries, aims to promote halal products as a healthy, premium option even for non-Muslims.
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/retailers-get-boost-with-halal-e-market

Singapore Real Estate

The ABCs of Singapore Reits
The greatest financial asset of youth is time. By investing early, one can have at least 30 years to accumulate a sizeable amount of savings that can go towards retirement. Coupled with the power of compounding, investment funds can grow to be substantially large when one retires. Historically, the two most promising asset classes that grow above the rate of inflation are stocks and real estate. So logically, the best way to preserve one’s purchasing power is to put savings in equities and real estate, and mutual funds investing in these.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/young-investors-forum/the-abcs-of-singapore-reits

Rent not expected to rise with JTC taking over industrial properties: Koh Poh Koon
Businesses affected by the planned transfer of Housing & Development Board (HDB) industrial land and properties to JTC are not likely to face higher rents due to the consolidation, Minister of State for National Development Koh Poh Koon said on Friday (Oct 21). Dr Koh said HDB and JTC’s rental polices had been “actually quite aligned over the years”, and that he did not expect any changes to these policies as a result of the transfer of the properties to JTC, which is expected to take place in the first quarter of 2018.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/rent-not-expected-to-rise-with-jtc-taking-over-industrial/3224818.html

Falling parts in old blocks: Call for more checks
Parts of housing blocks have fallen off on at least three occasions over the past two months, prompting at least one Member of Parliament to ask for more to be done to ensure the integrity of old housing blocks here. Early on Wednesday morning, a piece of the facade of a block in Circuit Road fell and crashed to the ground in the wake of strong winds and rain. No one was injured. The Housing Board said it was informed by the Marine Parade Town Council that a piece of calcium silicate cladding board had been dislodged from the facade of the Block 51, Circuit Road.
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/housing/falling-parts-in-old-blocks-call-for-more-checks

Upbeat about Vietnam’s residential property market
In the first nine months of 2016, foreign direct investments (FDI) disbursed into Vietnam increased by 12 per cent year on year to US$11 billion. Singapore is the second-largest investor after South Korea. Singapore companies accounted for US$1.85 billion or 16 per cent of disbursed FDI. Over the last four years, Singapore’s investment into Vietnam has increased from US$1 billion in 2012. After the manufacturing and processing industries, the real estate sector is the second-biggest recipient of foreign investments. In the last two years, Singapore real estate companies have invested close to US$1 billion in Vietnam.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/upbeat-about-vietnams-residential-property-market

Companies’ Brief

High networths join CDL’s Nouvel 18 PPS deal
Osim founder Ron Sim, The Straits Trading Company chairman Chew Gek Khim, Fragrance Group boss Koh Wee Meng, polo player and upscale property developer Satinder Garcha are among the high net worth Singaporean investors participating in City Developments’ S$977.6 million deal to unlock the value of its completed Nouvel 18 condo. The transaction enables CDL to avoid paying hefty extension charges under the government’s Qualifying Certificate (QC) conditions for not meeting a two-year deadline that falls due next month to finish selling the 156-unit freehold project. At the same time, the listed property and hotel group headed by Kwek Leng Beng has unlocked capital for redeployment to more productive uses while having a cut on the potential upside from the eventual sale of the 156 units in the District 10 project.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/high-networths-join-cdls-nouvel-18-pps-deal
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/cdl-sells-stake-in-summervale-properties-in-978m-deal
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-10-21/city-developments-exits-singapore-condos-to-raise-s-978-million

Ascendas-HTrust no longer for sale
Six months after turning down several third-party offers to buy out the property trust, Ascendas Hospitality Trust (A-HTrust) is no longer looking to exit the market. The recently named chairman of the trust, Miguel Ko, who is also group CEO of Ascendas-Singbridge, told The Business Times that after careful examination of the offers, the board had decided that it was in unitholders’ best interests for the management to continue to grow the trust instead of selling it. This is because its assets still has some runway to grow, he said. “A lot of our assets still have untapped opportunities, whether in the form of adding extra rooms or by improving the performance of these assets.”
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/ascendas-htrust-no-longer-for-sale

FCT eyes retail malls held by third parties
Frasers Centrepoint Trust (FCT) is eyeing retail malls held by third parties even as it waits for some assets held by its sponsor to be stabilised for acquisition. “While we are waiting for pipeline assets to be ready, we are looking at third-party assets – some big, some smallish,” said Chew Tuan Chiong, CEO of the Reit manager. “A good suburban mall valued at 5 per cent cap rate, I think, will be very attractive to many of the Reits.” Mr Chew noted that it is “an active marketplace now” because some assets in Singapore are becoming available as the economy is slowing. “Can’t say more but watch this space,” he told reporters and analysts at a briefing on FCT’s fourth-quarter results ended Sept 30, which churned out a mixed report. FCT units closed 1.4 per cent lower at S$2.13 after the results release.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/fct-eyes-retail-malls-held-by-third-parties
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/frasers-centrepoint-trusts-quarterly-dpu-falls-15

CMT’s Q3 DPU drops, asset management fees rise
Retail landlord CapitaLand Mall Trust (CMT) will be renovating the main entrance and interior of the Raffles City Singapore mall for about S$54 million, it said on Friday after its distribution per unit (DPU) for the third quarter took a tumble despite higher net property income. The real estate investment trust posted a DPU of 2.78 Singapore cents for the quarter, a 6.7 per cent drop from 2.98 Singapore cents in the corresponding period the preceding year, it said in a Singapore Exchange filing on Friday evening. The fall in its DPU came as Q3 distributable income slid 4.7 per cent to S$98.4 million from the preceding year.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/cmts-q3-dpu-drops-asset-management-fees-rise
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/capitaland-mall-trust-reports-67-drop-in-q3-dpu

Viva’s Q3 DPS rises despite larger unit base
Viva Industrial Trust (VIT) has reported a 9.9 per cent increase in distribution per stapled security (DPS) to 1.81 Singapore cents for its third quarter, despite a near 20 per cent enlargement in the unit base compared to a year ago. The higher distribution was on the back of three acquisitions completed in the past year: two industrial buildings, Home-Fix Building in Tai Seng and 11 Ubi Road 1, and 30 Pioneer Road, a logistics development, as well as higher rental and other income contribution from its Viva Business Park (formerly Technopark@Chai Chee).
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/vivas-q3-dps-rises-despite-larger-unit-base

Cache Logistics Trust’s Q3 DPU down 13.7% to 1.85 cents
Cache Logistics Trust’s third quarter distribution per unit (DPU) shrank to 1.847 Singapore cents from 2.14 Singapore cents in the previous year, the group said in a Singapore Exchange filing on Friday evening. The dent in performance was due to the absence of capital proceeds distributed in the third quarter of FY16. In Q3 FY15, S$1.5 million was distributed from the sales proceeds from the disposal of Kim Heng warehouse. Indeed, Q3 distributable income dipped 1.3 per cent to S$16.6 million from the previous year.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/cache-logistics-trusts-q3-dpu-down-137-to-185-cents