DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 27 Jan 2021 (Wed)

Singapore Real Estate

Bukit Timah, Duke’s Road sites up for en bloc sale with S$62.5m guide price
Three adjoining mixed-use redevelopment sites at 551 to 553 Bukit Timah Road, 6 to 8 Duke’s Road and a driveway have been put on the market via collective sale with a guide price of S$62.5 million. The freehold 16,479 square foot (sq ft) site is zoned for residential and commercial use. It has a gross plot ratio of 3.0 and an allowable height of up to five storeys under the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s Master Plan 2019, sole marketing agent JLL said on Tuesday.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/bukit-timah-dukes-road-sites-up-for-en-bloc-sale-with-s625m-guide-price

Balance frequency of property valuation reviews with a longer-term outlook
Increasing the frequency of property valuation reviews may be a good idea for listed companies in the current pandemic-stricken business environment, some industry watchers said. But this frequency needs to be balanced against the need to also adopt a long-term outlook when evaluating investments.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/balance-frequency-of-property-valuation-reviews-with-a-longer-term-outlook

Property auction success rates rise in 2020 despite fewer listings: Knight Frank
With physical auctions barred for the most part of the year due to “circuit-breaker” measures and safe distancing restrictions, there were only 495 auction listings in 2020 compared to 1,387 in 2019, inclusive of repeat listings. Demand for landed homes and industrial properties nonetheless drove success rates to an increased 3.6 per cent in 2020 from 1.4 per cent in the previous year, according to Knight Frank Singapore in its new research report on Monday.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/property-auction-success-rates-rise-in-2020-despite-fewer-listings-knight-frank
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/fewer-listings-but-property-auction-success-rates-up-in-2020-report

As rebates end, restaurants and retailers reel from rent, deposit hikes
Some Singapore retail and food and beverage (F&B) businesses are grappling with unexpected rental increments and hefty security deposits (SDs), as they struggle to get back on their feet after Covid-19’s impact, The Business Times has learnt. To be clear, the situation is far from straightforward, as numerous nuanced scenarios play out and rental discussions often turn acrimonious. Still, that has again worsened simmering tensions between tenants and landlords, following last year’s months-long tussles over rebates, while a pandemic compounds their difficulties.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/as-rebates-end-restaurants-and-retailers-reel-from-rent-deposit-hikes

Top 10 reasons to covet a home or investment property at The Landmark
This newly-launched, 396-unit Chin Swee Road city-fringe project with 1- to 3-bedroom types makes for an extremely compelling buy.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/top-10-reasons-to-covet-a-home-or-investment-property-at-the-landmark

Singapore Economy

No cash flow? S$42.6m still awaiting claims from corporate owners
Companies looking to ease their cash flow situation in these difficult times may want to check out a government website where S$42.6 million, including the largest single sum of S$190,000, is waiting to be claimed by businesses. According to the Ministry of Finance (MOF), the total unclaimed money amounted to S$274 million as at Dec 31, 2020, with about 80 per cent of the money belonging to individuals. The remainder or S$42.6 million is due to businesses.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/no-cash-flow-s426m-still-awaiting-claims-from-corporate-owners

Singapore’s FDI flows were down 37% in 2020
Foreign direct investment (FDI) flows into Singapore fell by 37 per cent to US$58 billion last year, noted an Investment Trends Monitor report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad). Singapore’s FDI decline was gentler than the global contraction of 42 per cent to US$859 billion, from US$1.5 trillion in 2019. The collapse left FDI flows more than 30 per cent beneath the trough that followed the global financial crisis in 2009.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/singapores-fdi-flows-were-down-37-in-2020

Singapore factory growth tipped to carry over into 2021 – but capped by high base
Factories are back in business. Anchored by the electronics and biomedical clusters, Singapore manufacturing returned to growth last year, preliminary numbers released by the Economic Development Board (EDB) on Tuesday indicate. Industrial production rose by 7.3 per cent year on year last year, reversing the 1.5 per cent decline in 2019.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/singapore-factory-growth-tipped-to-carry-over-into-2021-but-capped-by-high-base
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/singapore-factory-output-beats-forecast-growing-143-in-dec

Three in 10 firms lack confidence in sustaining business this year: SBF poll
The recovery may have begun but uncertainty remains, with three in 10 companies lacking confidence that they can sustain their business over the next 12 months, according to the Singapore Business Federation’s (SBF) annual National Business Survey 2020/21 released on Tuesday. Still, with the remaining seven in 10 being somewhat or very confident of making it through the year, the overall sentiment is of hope in recovery even if “2021 is not going to be an easy year”, said SBF chief executive officer Lam Yi Young.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/three-in-10-firms-lack-confidence-in-sustaining-business-this-year-sbf-poll
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/7-in-10-firms-say-they-can-keep-going-despite-pandemic-poll

Ensure policy stability, don’t end stimulus moves too early: Panel
Given the uncertainty over when the Covid-19 pandemic will end, governments around the world must undertake consistent and stable monetary and fiscal policies, and not exit from stimulus packages prematurely. They will also need to ensure that lower-income countries and the most vulnerable sectors of their economies, such as small and medium-sized enterprises, continue to be supported.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/ensure-policy-stability-dont-end-stimulus-moves-too-early-panel

Companies’ Brief

CDL ranked world’s top real estate company on Global 100 index
City Developments Limited (CDL) has been ranked the world’s top real estate company on the Global 100 most sustainable corporations in the world, and takes the 40th place on the whole index which ranks the world’s most sustainable corporations. Announced virtually on Monday at the 17th Annual Global 100 Launch, CDL has also remained Singapore’s top-ranked most sustainable company in the world, a position held for the third consecutive year.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/cdl-ranked-worlds-top-real-estate-company-on-global-100-index

CapitaLand’s pursuit of heft and diversity is not working, it’s time to separate growth from value
CapitaLand has been trying to reposition itself to benefit from the growth of e-commerce and the knowledge economy. But it isn’t getting much credit for its effort. In the wake of Covid-19, the market seems firmly focused instead on the risks of its legacy exposure to shopping malls, offices and serviced residences. With the benefit of hindsight, CapitaLand’s controlling shareholder Temasek Holdings may well have been better off had it not decided to inject Ascendas-Singbridge into the company two years ago.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/capitalands-pursuit-of-heft-and-diversity-is-not-working-its-time-to-separate

Views, Reviews, Forum & Others

Emerging markets are investment favourites again, but watch the risks
Emerging markets (EMs) appear to be enjoying a resurgence among investors, after years of being relegated to the sidelines. In 2020, despite being ravaged by Covid-19 and a dire economic prognosis, EM equities closed the year with a strong outperformance against global equities. The MSCI EM Index returned over 18 per cent in 2020, compared to the MSCI All Country World Index return of 16.25 per cent.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/opinion/emerging-markets-are-investment-favourites-again-but-watch-the-risks

Closing the funding gap for green urban infrastructure
The clock is ticking on climate change. Temperatures are rising, sea levels are going up and we have more greenhouse gases in our atmosphere than at any time in human history. In a rapidly urbanising world, where two out of every three people are forecast to live in cities by 2050, this is a formidable challenge. Unless we act fast, 800 million people living in low-lying coastal cities – particularly in Asia and the US coast – will be hit by sea level rises and coastal flooding by 2050 according to the UN. And according to the Urban Climate Change Research Network
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/opinion/closing-the-funding-gap-for-green-urban-infrastructure

Stop the inequality virus
It is nearly one year since the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a pandemic; and the coronavirus has been wreaking havoc in societies across Asia, massively impacting health and economic systems in the region and across the world. For most countries, no end is yet in sight although a few seem to have responded well. But overall, unemployment has surged. Labour market participation especially for low-income workers and marginalised groups has plunged.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/opinion/stop-the-inequality-virus

Reset now for a post-pandemic future
After a year of living in the shadow of Covid-19, the world must be prepared for a protracted road to recovery and more twists and turns ahead. While the global vaccine roll-out has begun and travel will eventually restart progressively, it could be a few years before the world sees some semblance of normalcy again. The vaccine uptake even in advanced countries is still patchy, and uncertainties remain over the duration of protection and effectiveness that vaccines offer against new strains of the virus.
https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/st-editorial/reset-now-for-a-post-pandemic-future

Asia has many faces; businesses will have to adapt
By 2030, there will be 5.4 billion consumers in the middle class worldwide, according to research from Brookings Institution. Close to two-thirds of that cohort will be from Asia. That is a big deal. By 2030, Asia’s middle class is expected to increase their spending to US$36 trillion. At that scale, this consumer group will have an outsized influence on demand for products and services and how they are delivered.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/wealth-investing/asia-has-many-faces-businesses-will-have-to-adapt

Blackrock urges firms to prep for net-zero transition
Climate risk is investment risk, but the climate transition is also a “historic investment opportunity”, said Laurence Fink, chairman and chief executive of BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager. In his latest annual letter to chief executives, Mr Fink called on companies to have a plan to transition to net-zero emissions.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/wealth-investing/blackrock-urges-firms-to-prep-for-net-zero-transition

Update on COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) Situation

Covid-19 tests to be offered to some Changi Airport staff after 3 previous cases of UK strain
Three of the previously reported Covid-19 cases here have tested positive for the B117 strain of the coronavirus that is circulating in Britain. This was detected after the National Public Health Laboratory conducted whole genome sequencing and phylogenetic analysis, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) yesterday.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/tests-to-be-offered-to-some-changi-airport-staff-after-3-previous-cases-of-uk

Covid-19 vaccination centres in all 24 HDB towns by end-March
There will be one community vaccination centre in each of the 24 HDB towns by end-March, as the nation ramps up its Covid-19 vaccination drive, with the elderly starting to get their jabs from today. The centres will ensure that when more vaccines arrive, they can be quickly distributed to the population, explained Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing yesterday during a visit to the community vaccination centre at Tanjong Pagar Community Club (CC).
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/vaccination-centres-in-all-24-hdb-towns-by-end-march
*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