DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 28 January 2022 (Fri)

Singapore Real Estate

Singapore’s retail rents edge up 0.6% in Q4 but down 6.8% in 2021
Rentals of retail space in Singapore’s central region rose 0.6 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2021 after falling 2.7 per cent in the previous 3 months, according to figures from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) released on Friday (Jan 28).
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/singapores-retail-rents-edge-up-06-in-q4-but-down-68-in-2021

Singapore industrial space rents, prices up in Q4 2021, fewer spaces completed: JTC
Industrial developments continued to see delays in Q4 2021, as the 3 months saw total available stock rise by 11,000 square metres (sq m), a sharp drop from the 228,000 sq m in Q3 2021. It is also a mere 1.5 per cent of the 736,000 sq m rise in total available stock for the whole 2021, according to JTC’s quarterly market report released on Thursday (Jan 27).
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/singapore-industrial-space-rents-prices-up-in-q4-2021-fewer-spaces-completed-jtc
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/singapore-industrial-space-rents-prices-rise-in-q4-jtc

Singapore non-landed private home prices jump 5.3% in Q4; overall rents up 2.6%
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said on Friday (Jan 28) that its private home price index rose 5 per cent quarter on quarter in Q4 2021, and climbed 10.6 per cent for the whole of last year.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/wealth-investing/singapore-non-landed-private-home-prices-jump-53-in-q4-overall-rents-up
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/singapore-private-home-prices-jumped-106-in-2021-rents-surged-99-ura

HDB resale prices climb 12.7% in 2021
The Housing Board (HDB) resale price index rose for the seventh consecutive quarter in Q4 2021, growing 3.4 per cent from the previous quarter. This is marginally higher than the flash estimates released on Jan 3, which had indicated a 3.2 per cent increase.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/wealth-investing/hdb-resale-prices-climb-127-in-2021
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/housing/hdb-resale-prices-jumped-127-in-2021-record-259-million-dollar-flats-sold

DWS-Hines tie-up buys Soilbuild industrial building for undisclosed sum
German asset management company DWS Group and Houston-based property investment firm Hines have announced their purchase of an industrial building through a joint venture between them, confirming an earlier exclusive report from The Business Times (BT).
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/dws-hines-tie-up-buys-soilbuild-industrial-building-for-undisclosed-sum

Singapore Economy

Formula One Grand Prix return puts Singapore back on track for glamour
The latest deal to host the Formula One (F1) Singapore Grand Prix will deliver a major boost to the Republic’s global branding, even if the race itself does not typically yield big dollars-and-cents returns, observers told The Business Times.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/formula-one-grand-prix-return-puts-singapore-back-on-track-for-glamour

Companies’ Brief

Ascott Residence Trust posts 14.1% rise in H2 DPS to S$0.0227
Ascott Residence Trust on Friday (Jan 28) reported a 14.1 per cent increase in its distribution per stapled security (DPS) to 2.27 Singapore cents for the second-half ended Dec 31, 2021, from 1.99 cents a year ago.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/wealth-investing/ascott-residence-trust-posts-141-rise-in-h2-dps-to-s00227

CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust posts H2 DPU of S$0.0522
CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust (CICT) has announced a distribution per unit (DPU) of S$0.0522 for the second half ended Dec 31, 2021, down 8.9 per cent from S$0.0573 in the year-ago period.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/wealth-investing/capitaland-integrated-commercial-trust-posts-h2-dpu-of-s00522
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/capitaland-integrated-commercial-trust-posts-second-half-dpu-of-522-cents

CDL Hospitality Trusts cuts H2 DPS by 11% to S$0.0306
CDL Hospitality Trusts’ (CDLHT) distribution per stapled security (DPS) fell by 11 per cent to 3.06 Singapore cents for its second half ended Dec 31, 2021, from 3.44 cents a year ago. Gross revenue, however, was up 39.7 per cent to S$91.5 million for the half-year period, from S$65.5 million a year ago.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/wealth-investing/cdl-hospitality-trusts-cuts-h2-dps-by-11-to-s00306
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/cdl-hospitality-trusts-cuts-second-half-dps-by-11-to-306-cents

Frasers Hospitality Trust sees better RevPAR in Q1
Frasers Hospitality Trust’s (FHT) Q1 business update on Thursday (Jan 27) indicated a general uplift in revenue per available room (RevPAR), in local currency terms, across the portfolio following a gradual recovery in international travel.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/wealth-investing/frasers-hospitality-trust-sees-better-revpar-in-q1

Keppel FY21 profit hits 6-year high of S$1b, unveils S$500m share buyback programme
Keppel Corporation on Thursday (Jan 27) reported net profit of S$722.9 million for the second half of FY2021 ended December, up from S$31.3 million in the corresponding year-ago period. This brought the group’s profit for the full FY2021 to a 6-year high of S$1 billion, a reversal from a loss of S$505.9 million in FY2020.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/wealth-investing/keppel-fy21-profit-hits-6-year-high-of-s1b-unveils-s500m-share
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/keppel-announces-highest-profit-in-six-years-of-1-billion

Mapletree North Asia Commercial Trust’s Q3 net property income up 13.1%
Mall and office landlord Mapletree North Asia Commercial Trust (MNACT), the target of a proposed merger with Mapletree Commercial Trust, posted higher Q3 net property income (NPI) of S$85.6 million, rising 13.1 per cent from a year ago.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/mapletree-north-asia-commercial-trusts-q3-net-property-income-up-131

SingHaiyi to be delisted on Jan 31
Mainboard-listed SingHaiyi Group will be delisted from the Singapore Exchange (SGX) at 9 am on Jan 31, it said in a bourse filing on Thursday (Jan 27). The move comes after the property player obtained regulatory approval on Jan 12 from the bourse operator to delist, after its free float dropped to under 10 per cent.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/singhaiyi-to-be-delisted-on-jan-31

Views, Reviews, Forum & Others

The long trend of falling corporate taxes is being reversed
For world peace, the League of Nations was an abject failure. For companies, it has proved a great success. In the 1920s it set a basis for corporate taxation that has endured ever since. Recognising that taxing profits in different places can hurt trade and growth, rights to tax were allocated first where profits are generated and only second where a company sites its headquarters.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/opinion/the-long-trend-of-falling-corporate-taxes-is-being-reversed

Timely move to keep inflation in check
With inflation rising faster than expected, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) took the unusual step on Tuesday of tightening its monetary policy stance in between its regular policy meetings, which happen in April and October.
https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/st-editorial/the-straits-times-says-timely-move-to-keep-inflation-in-check

Climate talk will be replaced by action in 2022
The net-zero transition needs to be completed by 2050 to avoid the irreversible impacts of climate change, and the urgency means climate rhetoric needs to make way for substantive change in 2022.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/opinion/climate-talk-will-be-replaced-by-action-in-2022

Economic recovery in Asean expected to be strong this year, but some risks lie ahead
Singapore – Economic recovery in Asean is expected to be strong this year, bolstered by pandemic fatigue and countries shifting its strategies from grappling with Covid-19 to living with it.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/economic-recovery-in-asean-expected-to-be-strong-this-year-but-some-risks-lie-ahead

Asia markets spooked as Fed chief signals rate hikes
Singapore – Asian markets tumbled on Thursday (Jan 27) as investors rushed for the door following Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell’s hawkish comments on interest rates and concerns of an impending Russian invasion of Ukraine.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/asia-markets-spooked-as-fed-chief-signals-rate-hikes

Update on COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) Situation

611 Covid-19 patients in hospital in Singapore; 49 need oxygen support, 12 in ICU
[Singapore] There were 611 Covid-19 patients who were in hospital on Thursday (Jan 27). Of those, 49 needed oxygen support and 12 were in the intensive care unit. This means that 31 more people were in hospital compared to the day before, with 5 more people who needed oxygen support, and 1 more patient in ICU.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/611-covid-19-patients-in-hospital-in-singapore-49-need-oxygen-support-12-in-icu
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/community/611-covid-19-patients-in-hospital-in-spore-49-need-oxygen-support-12-in-icu

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