DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 8 January 2016

Singapore Economy

Singdollar volatile, with more instability ahead
THE Singdollar was pretty volatile on Thursday, falling as much as 0.6 per cent at one stage as further yuan weakness roiled currency and equity markets. The SGD fell to the day’s low of 1.4427 in the morning against the greenback, and then recovered somewhat to 1.4319 at 3.20pm; it was quoted at 1.4353 at 4.41pm, said Bloomberg. On Wednesday, it closed at 1.4344.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/banking-finance/singdollar-volatile-with-more-instability-ahead

Singapore Real Estate

HDB resale prices flat in Dec as volume falls: SRX
Further to HDB flash estimates showing the resale prices of public flats stabilising, SRX’s latest data on Thursday confirms the trend of what consultants call a “soft landing”. HDB resale prices were unchanged in December 2015 compared to November, while resale volume fell slightly by 4.3 per cent.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/hdb-resale-prices-flat-in-dec-as-volume-falls-srx
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/housing/hdb-resale-prices-remain-flat-in-dec
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/business/singapore/hdb-resale-volume-dips-4/2405866.html

Tanah Merah site triggered for tender
Just three weeks after the Ministry of National Development announced the Government Land Sales Programme for first-half 2016, a private housing site near Tanah Merah MRT Station has been triggered from MND’s reserve list. Market watchers say this reflects developers’ hunger for land, their vital raw material, amid a depletion in their landbanks.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/tanah-merah-site-triggered-for-tender
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/years-first-reserve-site-triggered-for-sale

HDB, AHTC locked in disagreement over choice of accountant
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/hdb-ahtc-locked-in-disagreement-over-choiceof-accountant
http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/ahtc-asked-give-hdb-more-information-accounting-firm-it-wishesappoint

Companies’ Brief

Koh Brothers injects construction arm into listed subsidiary
In a move to streamline its businesses, Koh Brothers Group is injecting its construction arm Koh Brothers Building & Civil Engineering (Pte) Ltd (KBCE) into its listed subsidiary Koh Brothers Eco Engineering (KB Eco) for S$19 million. This will allow Koh Brothers Group to focus on property development, building materials as well as leisure and hospitality businesses with plans to expand regionally, while the enlarged KB Eco will become a one-stop engineering solutions company with greater cost efficiencies from shared overheads with KBCE.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/koh-brothers-injects-construction-arm-into-listedsubsidiary-0

Blackstone, Gaw Capital mull bids for Ascendas Hospitality Trust
Private equity investors Blackstone Group LP and Gaw Capital Partners are weighing separate bids for Singapore’s Ascendas Hospitality Trust, people familiar with the matter said, eyeing a target with a market value of US$600 million. The potential offers are being considered as bankers say that falling market valuations and higher interest rate expectations are set to stoke prospects for mergers and acquisitions of assets owned by the city state’s property trust sector.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/blackstone-gaw-capital-mull-bids-for-ascendashospitality-trust
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/potential-investors-eyeing-ascendashospitality-trust
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/business/singapore/2-private-equity-firms/2407518.html

Ascendas Reit
AReit was busy during the holidays raising new equity to fund acquisitions. The exercise by itself dilutive, cuts FY2017-2018 distribution per units by 2.4-4.5 per cent. Target price lowers to S$2.23, maintain “Hold”. But the 6 per cent blended net property income yield for all its acquisitions last year have been accretively financed by a blended cost of 5 per cent.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/brokers-take-206

Starhill Global Reit
Starhill Global Reit (SGReit) has sold a property in Tokyo for 2.5 billion yen (S$29.9 million). The sale of Roppongi Terzo Property, located in the Roppongi district in Minato-ku, was priced at a premium to its latest valuation. It was last valued at 2.44 billion yen and accounted for 32.8 per cent of the Japan portfolio and 0.9 per cent of SGReit’s portfolio by asset value.
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/company-briefs-starhill-global-reit-0

Views, Reviews & Forum

Have a say in tackling green challenges
While Singapore has grown into a sterling city in a garden in 50 years, the next phase will be fraught with more acute challenges, driven by increasing land constraints that could mean trade-offs between commercial, residential and green spaces. Climate change will also result in rising sea levels, more intense rainfall and warmer weather, and globally, there will be more pressure on resources such as food and raw materials.
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/have-a-say-in-tackling-green-challenges?login=true

More weakness in the residential sector in 2016
The number of vacant private residential units remained high throughout last year, due to a second consecutive year of near-record-high completion of about 19,000 units. On the demand side, the population increased at the slowest pace in more than 10 years on the back of a weak employment market and tight foreign manpower policies.
http://www.todayonline.com/business/more-weakness-residential-sector-2016?singlepage=true