DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 31st May 2018

Singapore Economy

Singapore to gain faster access to India’s startup ecosystem
Singapore startups can now gain speedier access to India’s bustling startup ecosystem to form partnerships and co-innovate with Indian startups. This has been made possible with the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Enterprise Singapore and The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) Singapore on Wednesday.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/singapore-to-gain-faster-access-to-indias-startup-ecosystem
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/boost-for-spore-india-start-ups-seeking-to-form-tie-ups

More in private sector earned more in 2017 than in 2016
More workers in the private sector took home bigger pay cheques last year than in 2016, said the Ministry of Manpower (MOM). Their real wages grew at 3.2 per cent, but this was the slowest since 2013, when the rise was 2.9 per cent.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/more-in-private-sector-earned-more-in-2017-than-in-2016
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/manpower/real-wages-last-year-grew-at-slowest-pace-since-2013
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/wage-salary-growth-raise-private-sector-workers-mom-2017-10288100
https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/workers-real-wages-grew-slowest-pace-2013-mom-survey

Singapore Real Estate

JTC releases 2 sites at Braddell, Tampines
JTC has put up for tender two industrial sites in Braddell and Tampines, and released another in Corporation Drive for application for sale, it announced on Wednesday. For tender is one confirmed list site at Tampines Industrial Drive and a reserve list parcel at Braddell Road under the first half 2018 Industrial Government Land Sale programme.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/jtc-releases-2-sites-at-braddell-tampines
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/jtc-tenders-2-sites-releases-another-for-sale-application

Indonesian group buys 2 floors at Octagon for S$30.3 million
Amid green shoots of recovery in the strata office market, a few whole-floor deals have surfaced recently in the Central Business District. At The Octagon in Cecil Street, the family behind Indonesian conglomerate Central Cipta Murdaya (CCM) is shelling out nearly S$30.33 million or S$2,450 per square foot for levels nine and 10.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/indonesian-group-buys-2-floors-at-octagon-for-s303-million

Gilstead Mansion en bloc bid targets S$68m
The owners of the 24-unit Gilstead Mansion near the Novena neighbourhood have put their development up for collective sale by public tender with an expected price of at least S$68 million. The tender will close at 3pm on July 3. The freehold site on Gilstead Road occupies a land area of 35,751 square feet, and its estimated existing gross floor area of 43,463.8 sq ft translates to an effective gross plot ratio of about 1.22 times.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/gilstead-mansion-en-bloc-bid-targets-s68m
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/gilstead-mansion-up-for-collective-sale-at-68m

Big electrical substation goes underground
A new electrical substation is being planned which could produce enough electricity to supply the Labrador area. But residents will not see it, as it will be built underground – forming part of a nationwide push to use more subterranean space in land-scarce Singapore.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/big-electrical-substation-goes-underground
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/spore-digs-underground-to-free-up-land-on-surface
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/pasir-panjang-underground-substation-singapore-largest-10289176
https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/new-substation-pasir-panjang-be-built-below-ground-free-space-land-scarce-singapore

JB-Singapore link gets okay but KL govt to cut cost
Malaysia has agreed to go ahead with an MRT line between Johor Baru and Singapore, but wants to find ways to lower its cost, said new Transport Minister Anthony Loke. The 4km Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link between Bukit Chagar and Woodlands North has been hailed for being able to boost the cross-border economy as well as ease travel and congestion.
https://www.straitstimes.com/politics/jb-singapore-link-gets-okay-but-kl-govt-to-cut-cost
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/jb-singapore-rts-link-still-on-says-minister

27 Moulmein Rise sold to Roxy-Pacific Holdings associated company
A Roxy-Pacific Holdings associated company, RH Novena, has bagged two adjacent freehold residential sites at 27 Moulmein Rise for S$106 million from 27MR. Located near Novena MRT, the total land area stands at 22,198 sq ft and can be redeveloped into a 20-storey apartment building with a maximum permissible gross floor area of 72,003 sq ft.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/27-moulmein-rise-sold-to-roxy-pacific-holdings-associated-company

Five individuals and Or Kim Peow Contractors charged in court in connection with Changi viaduct collapse
Five individuals and Or Kim Peow Contractors were charged in court on Wednesday for their role in the collapse of the Upper Changi Pan Island Expressway viaduct. The incident which happened last July resulted in the death of Chinese worker Chen Yinchuan, 31, while 10 others were hurt – two seriously.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/five-individuals-and-or-kim-peow-contractors-charged-in-court-in-connection-with-changi
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/contractor-five-people-charged-over-fatal-incident
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/pie-viaduct-collapse-contractor-or-kim-peow-charged-10288018
https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/2017-pie-viaduct-collapse-contractor-and-5-others-charged-lta-demolish-unsafe-sections

Companies’ Brief

ARA to raise US$1b for new pan-Asian infrastructure fund
ARA Asset Management, a real-estate fund manager backed by Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing, will soon be adding infrastructure assets such as toll roads, airports, utilities and renewables to its real estate portfolio in a drive to grow assets under management (AUM). Its newly formed infrastructure arm, ARA Infrastructure, is looking to raise US$1 billion in equity for its first private fund in the beginning of the third quarter.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/ara-to-raise-us1b-for-new-pan-asian-infrastructure-fund-0

Keppel Corp pledges to further reduce carbon emission
Keppel Corporation is aiming to achieve a 28.8 per cent reduction in carbon emissions intensity from 2010 levels by 2030, a target that was revealed in its 2017 Sustainability Report. This is in line with Singapore’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution of reducing greenhouse gas emissions intensity by 36 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/keppel-corp-pledges-to-further-reduce-carbon-emission
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/keppel-corp-sets-target-to-cut-carbon-emissions

Courts Asia in the red for Q4, dragged down by Malaysian business
Mainboard-listed Courts Asia announced on Wednesday that it made a net loss of S$3.02 million for its fourth quarter ended March 31, 2018 on the back of poor business performance in Malaysia, reversing from a profit of S$3.99 million a year ago. Revenue for the quarter dipped 9.5 per cent to S$163.3 million, while loss per share stood at 0.59 Singapore cent, compared with earnings per share of 0.78 Singapore cent a year ago.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/courts-asia-in-the-red-for-q4-dragged-down-by-malaysian-business
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/courts-asia-in-the-red-for-q4-dragged-down-by-malaysian-business

San Teh’s subsidiary ordered by Yunnan court to pay 11.3m yuan to contractor
San Teh announced on Wednesday that its subsidiary Dali San Teh Xing Real Estate has been ordered by the Yunnan court to pay approximately 11.3 million yuan (S$2.3 million) to its main contractor for the return of security deposit of eight million yuan and compensation for work stoppage damages of approximately 4.4 million yuan. The above sum was offset by progress payment overbilled by the contractor of approximately 1.1 million yuan.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/san-tehs-subsidiary-ordered-by-yunnan-court-to-pay-113m-yuan-to-contractor

KSH Holdings FY profit falls 28% to S$29.5m
KSH Holdings Limited posted a 28.1 per cent fall in net profit from S$41 million in FY2017 to S$29.5 million in FY2018, it said in a filing with the Singapore Exchange on Wednesday evening. On a per-share basis, profit fell from 7.19 Singapore cents in the previous year to 5.17 Singapore cents.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/ksh-holdings-fy-profit-falls-28-to-s295m

Sentosa Development Corporation names Bob Tan Beng Hai chairman; Lam Yi Young joins board
Two new members have been appointed to the board of Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC), which manages the island. Bob Tan Beng Hai will be appointed chairman with effect from June 1, while Lam Yi Young will join the board on the same date.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/sentosa-development-corporation-names-bob-tan-beng-hai-chairman-lam-yi-young
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/sentosa-development-corporation-names-bob-tan-beng-hai-chairman-lam-yi-young-joins

Views, Reviews, Forum & Others

Singapore on track to being go-to city for innovative global solutions/
A thousand young people from over 110 countries are now in Singapore for Unleash Lab 2018. They are in town not just to add another notch in the conference schedule for which this city is so favoured. Rather, they are spending eight days from May 30 to June 6 working in small teams to come up with new solutions to the planet’s sustainability challenge.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/opinion/singapore-on-track-to-being-go-to-city-for-innovative-global-solutions