DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 2, 3 & 4 Nov 2019

Singapore Real Estate

216 units at Sengkang Grand Residences sold at launch
Listed CapitaLand and City Developments, joint developers of Sengkang Grand Residences, sold 216 of the 280 units released for sale at the project’s weekend launch at an average selling price of around S$1,700 per square foot (psf). The tally, as at 6pm on Sunday, showed about 93 per cent of the buyers were Singaporeans, while the remaining 7 per cent were permanent residents and foreigners mainly from…
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/216-units-at-sengkang-grand-residences-sold-at-launch
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/sengkang-grand-residences-sees-216-units-sold-on-launch-weekend-0

Fragrance Group selling former HQ building in Changi Road for S$28.8m
Fragrance Group, controlled by James Koh, is understood to be selling its five-storey freehold namesake building at 168 Changi Road for S$28.8 million. The Business Times understands the buyer is Pergas Investment Holdings. Among other things, Pergas offers services in financial shariah advisory and consultancy.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/fragrance-group-selling-former-hq-building-in-changi-road-for-s288m

JTC to build new semiconductor facility in Tampines, refurbish 4 wafer fab parks
JTC Corporation is building a new semiconductor facility in Tampines, with the first phase to be completed by 2021. It is also refurbishing its four wafer fabrication parks by adding greenery and connecting them to the islandwide Park Connector Network.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/jtc-to-build-new-semiconductor-facility-in-tampines-refurbish-4-wafer-fab-parks
https://www.straitstimes.com/tech/jtc-to-build-new-semiconductor-facility-spruce-up-wafer-parks

Singapore Economy

Singapore among worst hit by investment cutback after US tax reform
One year after the 2017 US Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) kicked in, Singapore is the biggest hit among US major investment destinations, according to figures released recently by the US Department of Commerce. With taxes on repatriated US corporate earnings generally eliminated, US multinational corporations (MNCs) withdrew a whopping US$51.4 billion in direct investments from Singapore last year, down about…
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/singapore-among-worst-hit-by-investment-cutback-after-us-tax-reform

Companies’ Brief

MIT unit completes acquisition of stake in 3 N America data centres
Mapletree Rosewood Data Centre Trust (MRODCT) has completed the acquisition of an 80 per cent stake in three fully fitted hyperscale data centres in North America for US$810.6 million. MRODCT is 50 per cent owned by Mapletree Industrial Trust (MIT), while the remaining 50 per cent stake is held by Mapletree Investments Pte Ltd (MIPL).
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/mit-unit-completes-acquisition-of-stake-in-3-n-america-data-centres

A-Reit’s acquisition of business park assets marks foray into US
Ascendas Reit (A-Reit) is making its foray into the United States along with its biggest acquisition, as it plans to acquire 30 business park properties in the US and Singapore from its sponsor CapitaLand for some S$1.66 billion. The Reit has entered into agreements to acquire 28 business park properties for about US$938 million in the US tech cities of Raleigh, Portland and San Diego; these were acquired by the…
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/a-reits-acquisition-of-business-park-assets-marks-foray-into-us
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/ascendas-reit-to-buy-30-properties-from-capitaland
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/singapore-ascendas-reit-buy-business-parks-capitaland-billion-12055322

Pacific Star warns of net loss for Q1 FY20
Pacific Star Development has flagged that it expects to report a net loss for the first quarter ended Sept 30, citing tough market conditions and higher finance costs. In a filing early Sunday morning, it said the losses were incurred mainly as a result of challenging market conditions which impacted the sales of Puteri Cove Residences in Malaysia, and higher finance costs associated with a S$70 million facility obtained…
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/pacific-star-warns-of-net-loss-for-q1-fy20

Centurion aims to boost student, worker accommodation portfolio
Centurion Corporation plans to grow the number of student accommodation assets under its management in its existing markets, while looking for new markets to venture into. The mainboard-listed company’s student accommodation business segment already has a presence in Singapore, Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States and Korea under its “dwell” brand.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/centurion-aims-to-boost-student-worker-accommodation-portfolio

Manulife US Reit posts 2% fall in Q3 DPU on enlarged unit base
Manulife US Reit on Monday posted a 2 per cent fall in its third-quarter distribution per unit (DPU) to 1.48 US cents for the three months ended Sept 30, from 1.51 US cents a year ago. This was mainly due to an enlarged unit base following a placement and preferential offering to partially fund its US$198.8 million acquisition of 400 Capitol Mall.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/manulife-us-reit-posts-2-fall-in-q3-dpu-on-enlarged-unit-base
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/manulife-us-reit-posts-2-fall-in-q3-dpu-on-enlarged-unit-base

ASAP sold hotels to sponsor ahead of IPO to gain transaction certainty: EHT
Asset management firm ASAP sold six hotels to Eagle Hospitality Trust’s (EHT) sponsor ahead of EHT’s initial public offering (IPO) to gain transaction certainty independent of the IPO process, said EHT. The trust was responding to queries from the Singapore Exchange (SGX), which questioned the rationale for the sale to be conducted in such a manner, as opposed to a direct sale of the hotels to the trust. In a filing to the…
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/asap-sold-hotels-to-sponsor-ahead-of-ipo-to-gain-transaction-certainty-eht

Views, Reviews, Forum & Others

Makings of a leading-edge economy
Chia Ngiang Hong, President, Real Estate Developers’ Association of Singapore (REDAS)
As a small economy, Singapore has done well in the world’s standing as a nation with a forward-looking and progressive government, garnering support of its people and business community to drive a competitive economy and putting in place sound institutions, a clean and safe environment, excellent infrastructure, skilled and innovative workforce as well as dynamic and capable enterprises.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/views-from-the-top/makings-of-a-leading-edge-economy

Hammer time: What the auction numbers are saying about the property market
“S$9.1 million once, S$9.1 million twice, S$9.1 million sold!” went the beaming auctioneer, as she hit the gavel to seal the mortgagee sale of a freehold apartment in Honolulu Tower in Bukit Timah on July 23. The sprawling apartment was one of nine properties sold under the hammer in the third quarter this year. At S$9.1 million, the prime residential property was the highest-priced transaction among auction sales in…
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/brunch/hammer-time-what-the-auction-numbers-are-saying-about-the-property-market