DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 4th Jul 2018

Singapore Economy

Trade-tension risks not hurting regional growth forecasts
As trade tensions between the United States and China continue – more tariffs are due Friday – economists are putting numbers to the downside risks of a global trade war. Yet these risks have not hit growth forecasts for Singapore and the region; some countries are even having their forecasts upgraded.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/trade-tension-risks-not-hurting-regional-growth-forecasts

Payment performance for local firms dips in Q2, led by wholesale trade
The payment performance of local firms weakened slightly in the second quarter of this year, with the wholesale trade sector recording the largest increase in slow payments. This overall decline comes after two consecutive quarters of improvements, according to the Singapore Commercial Credit Bureau (SCCB).
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/payment-performance-for-local-firms-dips-in-q2-led-by-wholesale-trade
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/local-companies-payment-performance-slips-in-second-quarter

China, Singapore, Hong Kong seen as safe havens amid trade war fears
Despite fears of a trade war escalating between the two largest economies in the world, China joins Hong Kong and Singapore in being safe havens amid a volatile third quarter for equity markets, said a recent DBS Research report. DBS is overweight on a “resilient” China as most companies derive earnings from the domestic economy, and its market valuation has fallen below average for the first time in five years.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/china-singapore-hong-kong-seen-as-safe-havens-amid-trade-war-fears

Strong economic links between Singapore and Guangxi reaffirmed: MTI
Nanning, Guangxi: Singapore and the southern Chinese region of Guangxi have reaffirmed their strong economic links. This comes as Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean met Chairman of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Chen Wu on Tuesday (Jul 3) in Nanning, as part of a nine-day visit to China.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/strong-economic-links-between-singapore-and-guangxi-reaffirmed-10495992

Higher oil prices and threat of trade wars likely to dampen global growth
This is the first time we have lowered our expectations for global growth since 2016. Here are the reasons. Although growth remains strong, there are a number of factors that we believe will have a negative impact on global growth in both 2018 and 2019.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/executive-money/higher-oil-prices-and-threat-of-trade-wars-likely-to-dampen-global-growth

Singapore Real Estate

Hong Leong Group bags Hillview Rise GLS site for S$460m
The Hong Leong Group has clinched the 154,000 sq ft Hillview Rise residential site with a top bid of S$460 million – thanks in part to its proposed innovative construction methods and management with a focus on productivity. Intrepid Investments and Garden Estates, subsidiaries of Hong Leong Holdings and Hong Realty respectively, submitted the top bid among a shortlist of six proposals for the 99-year site. Based on a 430,879 sq ft gross floor area, the price works out to about S$1,067 psf per plot ratio.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/hong-leong-group-bags-hillview-rise-gls-site-for-s460m
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/hong-leong-awarded-hillview-rise-99-year-site

Two small condos launched for collective sale
Two small condominiums suitable as sites for boutique developments were launched for collective sale on Tuesday, adding to the growing list of sites in the private en bloc market looking for a buyer. One is Jansen Mansion, a 12-unit development near Kovan MRT station, and the other is Blossom Mansions, a development with 20 units in Lorong 37 Geylang. The owners are asking for S$22 million and S$32.8 million respectively.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/two-small-condos-launched-for-collective-sale
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/two-small-sites-up-for-collective-sale

Cairnhill Mansions collective sale committee to apply to High Court for sale order
Cairnhill Mansions’ collective sale committee (CSC) will apply to the High Court for a sale order, the purchaser Low Keng Huat (Singapore) said in a Singapore Exchange (SGX) filing on Tuesday evening. The Business Times had reported on Tuesday that a stop order had been issued by the Strata Titles Board (STB) on July 2, after mediations with one owner over the method of apportionment had not led her to withdraw her objection to the collective sale.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/cairnhill-mansions-collective-sale-committee-to-apply-to-high-court-for-sale-order

SAFRA Mount Faber to have co-working space, fast food drive-through after revamp
Singapore: SAFRA Mount Faber will be transformed into an “executive lifestyle club” by next year, the club for operationally ready national servicemen said on Tuesday (Jul 3). The 4-storey club at Telok Blangah Way will get a new facade and facilities that cater to a growing number of professionals, managers and executives among NSmen, SAFRA said.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/safra-mount-faber-to-have-co-working-space-fast-food-drive-10494424

Amazon sales event Prime Day debuts in Singapore on July 16
The e-commerce war in Singapore was supercharged on Tuesday with news that Amazon will launch its largest sales event, Prime Day, in the Republic for the first time. Prime Day, a highly-anticipated shopping event, the timing of which Amazon usually reveals only closer to the day, will occur a day after the frenzy of the 2018 Fifa World Cup final. Online bargain hunters will have 36 hours – from the midday of July 16 to the midnight of July 17 (Singapore time) – to shop.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/startups/amazon-sales-event-prime-day-debuts-in-singapore-on-july-16

Companies’ Brief

Frasers Logistics & Industrial Trust sells Australian property for A$90.5m
The manager of Frasers Logistics & Industrial Trust (FLT) on Tuesday said that it has sold a property in Australia for A$90.5 million (S$90.5 million) through its trustee. The property on 80 Hartley Street, Smeaton Grange is located in New South Wales, Australia, and comprises a cross-dock, regional distribution facility with a high clearance warehouse, office accommodation of 2,033 square metres, among other things. The property was purpose-built for Coles Supermarkets Australia and will have a remaining lease term of about five years, upon extension of the existing lease.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/frasers-logistics-industrial-trust-sells-australian-property-for-a905m

Views, Reviews, Forum & Others

Good news for flat sellers
Last year saw the highest number of resale flat transactions cross the $1 million mark since the first Housing Board executive apartment hit that record price in 2012. Million-dollar transactions more than doubled to 46 last year from the previous year, and the momentum has not shown signs of slowing yet. Some 18 flat owners have secured such deals in the first five months of this year.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/good-news-for-flat-sellers

Woman drops claim on third party’s share of home in divorce
In the first reported case of its nature after a recent landmark Court of Appeal ruling, a woman opted not to fight to have her brother-in-law’s share of her matrimonial home be included in the pool of assets to be split between her and her former husband. Her decision comes in the wake of a ruling by a five-judge Court of Appeal in April that claims made by a third party on property involved in divorce proceedings could not be heard by the Family Justice Court and had to be decided by the High Court.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/woman-drops-claim-on-third-partys-share-of-home-in-divorce

Gold loses safe-haven shine as greenback, interest rates rise
Gold’s allure as a safe haven has dulled with the precious metal being outshone by the US dollar. Prices slipped to the lowest level since 2016, upending expectations that investors would flock to the asset class during troubled times of geopolitical and escalating global trade war risks. Much of the slump in gold prices – spot gold prices have lost nearly 4.6 per cent this year – unfolded on the back of a US dollar rally amid rising interest rates that has made higher-yielding assets such as the greenback, also a safe haven asset, preferred.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/energy-commodities/gold-loses-safe-haven-shine-as-greenback-interest-rates-rise

Insurance, asset management prospects with Belt and Road
Belt and Road’s (BRI) potential to transform Asia’s burgeoning infrastructure needs is well known but the opportunities for the insurance and asset management sectors – particularly in Singapore – are a little less understood. China’s President Xi Jinping has described Belt and Road as “the project of the century” and, if delivered, the benefits will be immense to the recipient nations.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/opinion/insurance-asset-management-prospects-with-belt-and-road