DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 29th June 2018

Singapore Economy

Asian currencies tumble on multiple fear factors
Asian currencies are getting whacked chiefly on the back of a broad-based US dollar rally owing to rising interest rates but a new threat has set in lately with a slump in the Chinese yuan igniting fear that the trade war risk could also blow into a currency war. The Chinese yuan – largely deemed a closely-monitored currency – has slid 3 per cent against the greenback this month alone. It hit a record low mid-week – and while a devalued yuan is good for China’s export competitiveness, it could stir up further tensions with US President Donald Trump as the world’s two largest economies lock horns on tariffs.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/banking-finance/asian-currencies-tumble-on-multiple-fear-factors
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/us-china-trade-war-concerns-weigh-on-asian-currencies

Singapore, China can break new ground through Belt and Road: DPM Teo
Beijing: Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean has said that Singapore and China can break new ground through cooperation on the Belt and Road Initiative. He was speaking in an interview with the Chinese Xinhua News Agency ahead of a nine-day visit to China which begins on Thursday (Jun 28).
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/singapore-china-belt-and-road-initiative-dpm-teo-chee-hean-10481102
https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/govts-private-firms-need-join-hands-against-new-threats-posed-rapid-technological-change
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/dpm-teo-in-china-on-nine-day-visit

Singapore Real Estate

Singapore ranks 12th in global real estate transparency index
Singapore ranks 12th in JLL’s Global Real Estate Transparency Index (GRETI) 2018, which scores countries based on their investment performance, market fundamentals, governance of listed vehicles, regulatory and legal frameworks, transaction process and environmental sustainability. Along with Hong Kong and Japan, the three mature Asia-Pacific economies are on the brink of joining the “highly transparent” tier.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/singapore-ranks-12th-in-global-real-estate-transparency-index

Prices of completed condo, private apartments up 1.5% in May from April: NUS index
Prices of completed non-landed private homes in Singapore climbed 1.5 per cent in May from the previous month. This is according to the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) flash estimates for its Singapore Residential Price Index (SRPI) released on Thursday.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/prices-of-completed-condo-private-apartments-up-15-in-may-from-april-nus-index
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/non-landed-private-home-prices-up-15-in-may

Auction sales in Q2 down 33%
The auction market in the second quarter has seen a total sales value of S$19.64 million, according to an Edmund Tie & Company analysis released on Wednesday. This was a 33 per cent decrease from the S$29.48 million transacted in Q2 2017. The company noted that the figures do not include private treaty sales and units transacted before or after the auction.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/auction-sales-in-q2-down-33
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/lack-of-big-ticket-units-pushes-auction-market-figures-down-in-q2

Canberra Link EC site likely to be hotly contested
The scarcity of land parcels released to build executive condominiums (ECs) could turn developers’ attention to plots in Canberra Link and Anchorvale Crescent under the government land sales (GLS) programme, consultants say. The Canberra Link site was launched on Thursday for sale under the Confirmed List of the H1 2018 GLS programme, while the site in Anchorvale Crescent was released for application under the Reserve List. Sites on the Reserve List will be put up for tender only when a developer has indicated a minimum price that is accepted by the government.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/canberra-link-ec-site-likely-to-be-hotly-contested
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/canberra-link-ec-site-likely-to-see-hot-bidding
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/four-residential-sites-released-under-h1-2018-gls-programme

Tee Land buys Teck Guan Ville in S$60m collective sale
Tee Land is purchasing Teck Guan Ville condo in Upper East Coast Road in a collective sale worth S$60 million. It announced in a Singapore Exchange filing that it has entered into an option-to-purchase agreement to acquire the freehold, 3,928.8 sq m plot located at 338 to 364 Upper East Coast Road. The plan is to build a residential development on the land, Tee Land said in a Singapore Exchange filing on Thursday evening. The proposed acquisition is subject to due diligence and is expected to be completed by November 2018.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/tee-land-buys-teck-guan-ville-in-s60m-collective-sale

Stirling Residences open for preview this Saturday
Mega residential project Stirling Residences will be open for preview this Saturday by joint venture developers Logan Property from Hong Kong and Nanshan Group of China. Secured with a record S$1 billion bid last May, the 1,259-unit development is located in District 3 near Queenstown MRT and spans almost 230,000 square feet.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/stirling-residences-open-for-preview-this-saturday

Companies’ Brief

CapitaLand Retail China Trust issues S$130m, 3.25% four-year bond
Capitaland Retail China Trust (CRCT) is issuing a S$130 million bond that will mature on July 4, 2022. The coupons to be paid on a semi-annual basis will be at 3.25 per cent, 97.7 basis points above the four-year Swap Offer Rate, said DBS Bank, the sole lead manager and bookrunner.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/capitaland-retail-china-trust-issues-s130m-325-four-year-bond
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/capitaland-retail-china-trust-issues-130m-325-four-year-bond

Koh Bros’ maiden Korea project 96% sold
Koh Brothers Group’s first project in South Korea has been 96 per cent sold within three months of its launch, it said in a Singapore Exchange (SGX) filing on Thursday. All the 99 apartment and 53 retail units are sold out, and 14 out of the 194 “Office-tel” SoHo units are left on the market.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/koh-bros-maiden-korea-project-96-sold

Rich Capital given green light to remain listed
Rich Capital Holdings, formerly known as Infinio Group, on Thursday said the Singapore Exchange has advised that it has no objection to the continued listing of the company on the Catalist board. In January, Rich Capital had applied to seek for an extension of time to June 30, 2018, to demonstrate that it has a viable business to maintain its listing status.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/rich-capital-given-green-light-to-remain-listed
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/rich-capital-gets-sgx-nod-to-stay-listed

Emerging Towns and Cities requests resumption in trading
Emerging Towns and Cities Singapore has asked for trading to resume on June 29 for its Catalist shares, which are currently suspended, the property player said in a Singapore Exchange (SGX) filing on Thursday night. It also dislosed the confirmation from the board and sponsor on a few matters as conditions for SGX Regco’s approval.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/emerging-towns-and-cities-requests-resumption-in-trading

Capella Hotel Group to manage Regent Singapore from 2019
Regent Singapore will be managed by the Capella Hotel Group next year. This comes months after the Kwee family, which owns the Pontiac Land Group that owns The Regent, bought the hospitality company from veteran hotelier and Ritz-Carlton founding president Horst Schulze in October 2017.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/capella-hotel-group-to-manage-regent-singapore-from-2019
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/capella-hotel-group-to-manage-regent-singapore-from-2019

Second Chance Properties Q3 net profit falls 61.6%
Net profit for Second Chance Properties in its third quarter fell 61.6 per cent to S$2.1 million from the year-ago period, the group said in a Singapore Exchange filing on Thursday evening. For the three months ended May 31, revenue increased 3.2 per cent to S$9.7 million from the year-ago period.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/second-chance-properties-q3-net-profit-falls-616

Koufu plans S$85m IPO, plans to debut on July 18
Homegrown food court operator Koufu has lodged a draft prospectus for a listing on the Singapore Exchange mainboard, with plans to start trading on July 18. The initial public offering (IPO) could raise around S$85 million and Koufu Group would have a market cap of around S$350 million upon its debut, according to indicative terms seen by The Business Times.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/koufu-plans-s85m-ipo-plans-to-debut-on-july-18
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/koufu-lodges-draft-prospectus-for-mainboard-ipo

VIEWS, REVIEWS, FORUM & Others

Is ESR building its own ‘mini pan-Asian GLP’?
ARA Asset Management’s (ARA) acquisition of CWT’s shareholdings in the Reit and property managers of Cache Logistics Trust this week comes as an opportune time for both buyer and seller. For the seller CWT, this raises cash that would be welcomed by its new parent the debt-ridden Chinese conglomerate HNA Group.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/is-esr-building-its-own-mini-pan-asian-glp

More companies making their philanthropy more productive
Over 90 per cent of Feng Ming Construction’s corporate-giving budget used to be set aside for cash donations. But the construction firm soon realised that such purely philanthropic acts yield “very limited returns” to the company, said Feng Ming’s director of business development Brian Lim.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/life-culture/more-companies-making-their-philanthropy-more-productive