DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 6th April 2018

Top Story

Dairy Farm joins billion-dollar en bloc list with asking price of over S$1.68b
Another residential development that could smash the collective sale record currently held by Farrer Court is The Dairy Farm, if it obtains the requisite approval from owners and is successfully sold. Owners of the freehold development – now comprising 477 residential units and 10 retail shops – are holding an extraordinary general meeting this Saturday to approve the terms of the collective sale agreement and method of apportionment on sale proceeds.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/dairy-farm-joins-billion-dollar-en-bloc-list-with-asking-price-of-over-s168b

Singapore Economy

Make Asean infrastructure financing an asset class: Heng Swee Keat
Asean finance ministers came together on Thursday to pitch their respective countries’ infrastructure projects and the steps their governments have taken to cushion the risks for investors. Led by Singapore’s Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat, they called for a collective effort which would be more efficient in meeting international investors’ concerns.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/make-asean-infrastructure-financing-an-asset-class-heng-swee-keat

Government monitoring trade spat; Singapore, KL may gain from trade diversion
The escalating trade tensions between China and the US have sparked concerns among the business community here over the potential impact on global growth. The “tit-for-tat” protectionism measures announced by the two global superpowers are fuelling fears of a protracted trade war, which would be bad news for Singapore’s small, open economy.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/government-monitoring-trade-spat-singapore-kl-may-gain-from-trade-diversion

Singapore Real Estate

HDB resale prices up 0.8% in March from February but down 1.9% y-o-y: SRX
Resale prices of Housing Board flats rose 0.8 per cent in March from February, the month of Chinese New Year, but dropped by 1.9 per cent from a year ago, according to flash data from real estate portal SRX Property on Thursday. For the first quarter of 2018, resale prices are down by 0.6 per cent from the previous three months. Prices have also declined by 12.8 per cent since their peak in April 2013.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/hdb-resale-prices-up-08-in-march-from-february-but-down-19-y-o-y-srx
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/housing/hdb-resale-prices-fall-in-march-from-year-ago
https://www.srx.com.sg/research/47252/hdb-resale-prices-increase-by-08-in-mar-m-o-m-but-drop-by-06-in-2018-q1-q-o-q-volume-jumps-up-by-585-m-o-m

Companies’ Brief

CapitaLand launches all-in-one e-payment service
CapitaLand, Singapore’s largest mall operator, is the latest to join the cashless drive. The blue-chip is partnering leading e-payment players to launch an all-in-one e-payment service – dubbed StarPay – that is currently planned to cover over 2,500 stores in 17 malls across Singapore.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/capitaland-launches-all-in-one-e-payment-service
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/banking/capitaland-malls-to-offer-all-in-one-e-pay-service

Kingsford allowed to start work in some areas of condo project
Chinese developer Kingsford Development, which was slapped with an order to stop building works at its condominium project in Upper Serangoon View, has been permitted to resume works at areas that do not require rectification. When asked for an update on the project Kingsford Waterbay, the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) told The Business Times that this partial lifting of the order was granted on March 19. But the order to stop work remains in force for all other areas that require rectification.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/kingsford-allowed-to-start-work-in-some-areas-of-condo-project

Alpha sells Shanghai property for about 2.35b yuan
Alpha Asia Macro Trends Fund II (AAMTF II) has sold Shanghai International Plaza, an office-and-retail property, to LaSalle Investment Management. AAMTF II sold the property through its wholly-owned entity Bravo (II) Pte Ltd. LaSalle made the acquisition on behalf of LaSalle Asia Opportunity V, the fifth in its series of closed-end, pan-Asian opportunistic funds.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/alpha-sells-shanghai-property-for-about-235b-yuan

KTL Global unit terminates lease for Tuas Bay office; to pay S$5.87m to landlord
The board of offshore services firm KTL Global announced late on Thursday night that its unit, KTL Offshore (KTLOS), has entered into a deed of surrender to terminate its lease at the company’s previous registered office at 71 Tuas Bay Drive, and 61 Tuas Bay Drive with effect from March 1, 2018.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/ktl-global-unit-terminates-lease-for-tuas-bay-office-to-pay-s587m-to-landlord

Views, Reviews, Forum & Others

Singapore in a time of rising risks
Globalisation means that we are all exposed to the functioning of political institutions in large economies such as the United States, the European Union and China. Large country decision-making on trade, monetary and fiscal policy, or security and climate change, has direct international repercussions.
http://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/singapore-in-a-time-of-rising-risks

‘Energy islands’ among new solar energy projects launched
“Singapore, a sunny island set in the sea”, as a song goes, may soon have “energy islands” made up of solar panels floating in the sea. These “islands” will supply electricity to nearby industrial zones or living areas, under a project by the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (Seris) housed at the National University of Singapore (NUS).
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/energy-commodities/energy-islands-among-new-solar-energy-projects-launched
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/energy-islands-to-harness-sunlight