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The Leading Professional and Representative Body for the Real Estate Industry

DAILY NEWS

 

Daily News – 26th July 2018

Singapore Economy

Singapore launches pilot for data protection certification scheme
An open call for companies to join a pilot for data protection certification was launched on Wednesday by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC).  The Data Protection Trustmark (DPTM) certification was first announced in 2017, as part of several initiatives to ensure that the data protection ecosystem in Singapore stays up to date.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/singapore-launches-pilot-for-data-protection-certification-scheme
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/8-organisations-take-part-in-pilot-to-certify-data-practices-10560732

 

Singapore Real Estate

Sengkang EC site triggered for public tender
Amid the crunch of executive condo (EC) units, a site in Sengkang designated for this public-private hybrid housing type has been triggered for launch from the reserve list of the Government Land Sales (GLS) programme.  This follows a successful application by an unnamed developer to bid at least S$255 million or S$460.80 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr) at tender for the 1.71 ha site along Anchorvale Crescent near Cheng Lim LRT Station and Sengkang MRT Station.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/sengkang-ec-site-triggered-for-public-tender
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/anchorvale-ec-site-triggered-for-launch

 

Companies’ Brief

Ascendas India Trust Q1 DPU up 23%
The business space-focused Ascendas India Trust saw a hike in its first-quarter payout to unit holders, with net property income up despite a slip in revenue on currency rates.  Distribution per unit (DPU) was 1.6 Singapore cents for the three months to June 30, up by 23 per cent on the previous year’s 1.31 Singapore cents, the manager said on Wednesday.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/ascendas-india-trust-q1-dpu-up-23-0

Frasers Commercial Trust maintains Q3 DPU of 2.40 S cents
Frasers Commercial Trust (FCOT) on Wednesday announced a 10.4 per cent rise in distribution of S$21.2 million to unitholders, working out to a distribution per unit (DPU) of 2.40 Singapore cents for its third fiscal quarter, maintaining its payout from the same period a year ago.  The real estate investment trust (Reit), which counts properties like Melbourne’s 357 Collins Street and Singapore’s Alexandra Technopark in its portfolio, recorded a 26.9 per cent fall in its net property income to S$20.37 million for the three months ended June 30, 2018, on the back of a 15.2 per cent drop in revenue to S$32.49 million.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/frasers-commercial-trust-maintains-q3-dpu-of-240-s-cents
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/frasers-commercial-trusts-q3-payout-up-104

Tuan Sing Q2 net profit up 70%, bolstered by divestment gain
Property developer Tuan Sing Holdings posted a 70 per cent rise year-on-year in net profit for 2QFY18 to S$2.99 million on the back of a S$3.9 million gain arising from the sale of a plot of land in Qingdao, China.  Revenue dipped 3 per cent to S$81.66 million due to lower sales of residential development projects and a slight decrease of revenue from the hotels business.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/tuan-sing-q2-net-profit-up-70-bolstered-by-divestment-gain

Sabana Reit declares 1.2% higher DPU for Q2
Sabana Shari’ah Compliant Industrial Real Estate Investment Trust (Sabana Reit), an industrial landlord, is giving out 1.2 per cent more distribution per unit (DPU) for the second quarter ended June 30 than a year ago at 0.82 Singapore cents.  This came on the back of lower property expenses and net finance, mitigating a slide in gross revenue and net property income.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/sabana-reit-declares-12-higher-dpu-for-q2

AA Reit’s Q1 DPU flat at 2.5 Singapore cents
Aims AMP Capital Industrial Reit’s (AA Reit) distribution per unit (DPU) was 2.50 Singapore cents for the first quarter ended June 30, unchanged from the corresponding quarter of the previous year, the Reit reported on Thursday.  Gross revenue of S$29 million for Q1 2019 was down 5.2 per cent from Q1 2018.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/aa-reits-q1-dpu-flat-at-25-singapore-cents
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/aa-reits-q1-dpu-flat-at-25-cents

Epic Land proposes divestment of 7 strata office units in Prudential Tower
A consortium, Epic Land, has executed a sale and purchase agreement (SPA) to sell six of its wholly-owned subsidiaries, which hold seven strata office units in Prudential Tower, to an unrelated third party.  The sale price will be determined based on the net asset value of the sale companies as at the completion date and will take into consideration the value of the properties, which is about S$130.07 million.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/epic-land-proposes-divestment-of-7-strata-office-units-in-prudential-tower

Hot stock: Imperium Crown down 12.5%
Shares in Catalist-listed real estate firm Imperium Crown fell 12.5 per cent on Wednesday, making it one of the biggest losers by percentage on the Singapore bourse for the day.  The counter reached an intraday low of three Singapore cents, before closing at 3.5 Singapore cents, down 12.5 per cent, or 0.5 Singapore cent. Some 26.4 million shares changed hands.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/hot-stock-imperium-crown-down-125

Memories Group acquires hotels, island development rights; posts US$1.7m Q1 loss
Myanmar-based tourism firm Memories Group, in its first earnings report since its Catalist debut in January, posted on Wednesday a net loss of US$1.7 million for the three months ended June 30.  A year ago, the loss stood at US$698,000.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/memories-group-acquires-hotels-island-development-rights-posts-us17m-q1-loss
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/memories-group-posts-net-loss-of-23m

Parkway Life Reit DPU down 3.7% on absence of one-off divestment gain
Parkway Life Real Estate Investment Trust (Reit) saw distribution per unit (DPU) fall 3.7 per cent to 3.19 Singapore cents for the three months ended June 30. This was due to the absence of, for this fiscal second quarter, a one-off distribution of a divestment gain in the year-ago period, which more than offset a 3.1 per cent rise in DPU from recurring operations.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/parkway-life-reit-dpu-down-37-on-absence-of-one-off-divestment-gain
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/parkway-life-reit-sees-37-drop-in-q2-dpu-on-absence-of-one-off-divestment

 

VIEWS, REVIEWS, FORUM & Others

Fierce competition among developers may be why fresh curbs are needed
Same facts, different interpretations.  This axiom is starkly exemplified by the strong reactions of the property industry to the latest housing cooling measures that took effect on July 6.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/opinion/fierce-competition-among-developers-may-be-why-fresh-curbs-are-needed

Time for S’pore to embrace Airbnb-style stays
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) announced that it has commissioned a new study to gather Singaporeans’ views on short-term accommodation after a public consultation earlier this year yielded mixed results (URA to seek more detailed views on Airbnb-style stays; July 24).  For years, the Singapore authorities have hesitated to issue home-sharing platforms such as Airbnb a licence to fully operate here.
https://www.straitstimes.com/forum/letters-in-print/time-for-spore-to-embrace-airbnb-style-stays
https://www.straitstimes.com/forum/letters-in-print/authorities-dragging-their-feet-on-short-term-rental-issue
https://www.straitstimes.com/forum/letters-in-print/airbnb-style-rentals-already-a-big-headache

SGX needs to rein in delistings
Last week’s privatisation bid for Wheelock Properties (Singapore) would bring the year’s tally of delistings to more than S$27 billion if it is successful. The tally includes Global Logistic Properties, a S$16 billion juggernaut which officially delisted in January this year.  There is also a handful of smaller firms still in the process of being privatised and delisted – such as Vard Holdings, Weiye Holdings and Lee Metal – which would result in approximately S$800 million in market value that would be erased from the local bourse in due time.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/sgx-needs-to-rein-in-delistings

Plans to bring social services closer to residents of rental flats
Low-income residents living in rental flats will be able to get help more easily, with plans to bring social services closer to rental housing neighbourhoods.  They will also be spared from having to navigate the social service system to seek help, with more being done to improve the coordination between government agencies and voluntary welfare organisations.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/plans-to-bring-social-services-closer-to-residents-of-rental-flats

More mega childcare facilities for new towns
Parents of young children living in Sengkang and Punggol can look forward to 2,600 more pre-school places by 2020, with five new large childcare centres being planned in the two estates.  Four of the five centres, with about 300 to 550 places each, will be located in Sengkang, and another centre with 650 places will be developed in Punggol.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/education/more-mega-childcare-facilities-for-new-towns
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/more-childcare-places-in-sengkang-and-punggol-by-2020-10560888
https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/5-new-large-childcare-centres-open-punggol-sengkang-2020

North-South and East-West lines to get 66 new trains
Singapore’s oldest and most heavily used MRT lines will get 66 new trains in a contract worth $1.2 billion, an acquisition that will improve reliability on the North-South and East-West lines.  The move is the latest in a multi-year drive to improve the two lines, which until recently had suffered the worst MRT breakdowns.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/north-south-and-east-west-lines-to-get-66-new-trains

 

Global Economy & Global Real Estate

$16b in aid for US farmers – to ease trade war pains
https://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/16b-in-aid-for-us-farmers-to-ease-trade-war-pains

EU prepares retaliatory tariffs on US$20b of US goods
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/eu-prepares-retaliatory-tariffs-on-us20b-of-us-goods

Signs of a Cooling U.S. Housing Market
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-07-25/signs-of-a-cooling-u-s-housing-market

Airbnb’s New York bookings risk getting slashed by half
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/airbnbs-new-york-bookings-risk-getting-slashed-by-half

The $1.5 Billion Real Estate Wager That Went Horribly Wrong
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-07-25/hedge-fund-titans-who-bet-big-on-india-now-say-they-were-scammed

UK retail and mortgage data points to pick-up ahead of Bank of England decision
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/uk-retail-and-mortgage-data-points-to-pick-up-ahead-of-bank-of-england-decision

Hammerson pins future on mega malls as it boosts asset sales
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/hammerson-pins-future-on-mega-malls-as-it-boosts-asset-sales

Trade frictions with US spell uncertainty for jobs, says China
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/trade-frictions-with-us-spell-uncertainty-for-jobs-says-china

Historic Chinese town resists eviction for theme park
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/historic-chinese-town-resists-eviction-for-theme-park

Malaysia seeks to complete US$10b project rocked by scandal
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/malaysia-seeks-to-complete-us10b-project-rocked-by-scandal

LVMH’s luxury allure eclipses fears of trade war in China
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/consumer/lvmhs-luxury-allure-eclipses-fears-of-trade-war-in-china
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/chinese-demand-helps-lvmh-bag-robust-luxury-goods-sales

 

Additional Articles of Interests – Local & Overseas Real Estate

Local & Overseas Real Estate – Full Article
http://business.asiaone.com/property/news
http://www.btinvest.com.sg/property
http://www.propertyguru.com.sg/market-news
http://www.srx.com.sg/singapore-property-news
http://www.stproperty.sg/articles-property/singapore-property-news/c/11
https://www.edgeprop.sg/property-news

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