DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 06th August 2019

Singapore Economy

HK protests to hit retail, tourism, but limited effect on Singapore: economists
Prolonged protests in Hong Kong are likely to hit the market’s retail and tourism sectors in particular, say economists, who see a limited impact on Singapore in the short term. With the protests having lasted two months and an attempted general strike on Monday, Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam warned that the city was being pushed “to the verge of a very dangerous situation”.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/hk-protests-to-hit-retail-tourism-but-limited-effect-on-singapore-economists?

Q1 receipts fall 4.8% amid economic uncertainty
Spending by visitors to Singapore fell 4.8 per cent to S$6.5 billion in the first quarter of 2019 from the same period last year, although international arrivals ticked up by one per cent to 4.7 million. Poh Chi Chuan, Singapore Tourism Board (STB) director of digital transformation, said that visitors may have been more conscious about spending due to ongoing risk and uncertainties in the global economy.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/q1-receipts-fall-48-amid-economic-uncertainty
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/more-tourists-in-q1-but-they-spent-less
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/tourist-spending-dips-in-q1-2019-despite-increase-in-visitor-11781438

Companies’ Brief

APAC Realty Q2 net falls 57% on sharply lower brokerage income
APAC Realty, Singapore’s largest real estate agency, posted a net profit of S$3.3 million in the second quarter, down 56.8 per cent from the same period a year earlier. Revenue from real estate brokerage fees and related services fell 30 per cent to S$85 million in the three months ended June 30.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/apac-realty-q2-net-falls-57-on-sharply-lower-brokerage-income

Sasseur Reit Q2 DPU up 1.3% despite Sino-US trade war
Sasseur Reit on Tuesday posted a distribution per unit (DPU) of 1.608 Singapore cents for its second quarter ended June 30, 1.3 per cent higher than the DPU of 1.587 Singapore cents for March 28 to June 30, 2018. The Reit (real estate investment trust) – which listed on March 28, 2018 – posted distributable income of S$19.2 million, 2.3 per cent above the S$18.8 million for March 28 to June 30, 2018.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/sasseur-reit-q2-dpu-up-13-despite-sino-us-trade-war
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/sasseur-reit-q2-dpu-up-13-from-china-outlet-malls

Datapulse appoints ICP unit to manage Singapore hotel; audit committee vetting agreements
Mainboard-listed disc producer Datapulse Technology has engaged Travelodge Hotels Asia (TLA) as the hotel operator of Bay Hotel Singapore, after having appointed TLA last month to manage Holiday Inn Express Euljiro in Seoul. Datapulse said in April that it was acquiring a 15 per cent stake in the Seoul hotel for 8.6 billion won (S$10.2 million), before announcing early in July that it will also buy a 5 per cent stake…
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/datapulse-appoints-icp-unit-to-manage-singapore-hotel-audit-committee-vetting
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/datapulse-appoints-icp-unit-to-manage-singapore-hotel-audit-committee

Views, Reviews, Forum & Others

It’s a Goldilocks market a year after property cooling measures
It has been a year since the government imposed fresh curbs to cool the hot property market, so it is perhaps a good time to take stock of the private residential property market. All the more so in the light of fresh data that shows that the private residential price index rose 1.5 per cent in the second quarter, steeper than the preliminary estimate of 1.3 per cent.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/opinion/its-a-goldilocks-market-a-year-after-property-cooling-measures