DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 9th June 2017

Singapore Economy

MOU opens more doors for Singapore firms in Myanmar
International Enterprise (IE) Singapore on Thursday signed an agreement with the Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) that will open more doors for Singapore firms to do business in Myanmar. The opportunities for collaboration are in urban and housing solutions, utilities, transport and logistics, manufacturing, oil and gas, and professional services.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/mou-opens-more-doors-for-singapore-firms-in-myanmar
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/singapore-myanmar-to-explore-more-tie-ups-for-companies-in-urban-solutions
http://www.todayonline.com/business/mou-opens-doors-myanmar-more-singapore-firms

STB partners Tencent to draw Chinese tourists here
The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) is stepping up efforts to attract more Chinese travellers to the city-state by partnering with Tencent, a leading provider of Internet value-added services in China. In a joint statement yesterday, the STB and the International Business Group (IBG) of Tencent said they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to use the latter’s targeted advertising solutions to promote Singapore as a destination of choice for Chinese travellers.
http://www.todayonline.com/business/stb-partners-tencent-draw-chinese-tourists-here

Singapore’s Economic Rebound Isn’t as Good as it Seems
Singapore’s economy may be picking up, but consumers aren’t feeling it. After two years of below-par growth, economists and even the government are becoming more positive on the outlook. While it’s not boom time yet, the consensus is that 2017 growth will come in higher than last year’s 2 percent. A large part of that is down to exports: Singapore, like other trade-reliant nations in Asia, is benefiting from a recovery in global growth, which is translating into rising sales of electronic goods.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-06-08/singapore-s-economic-rebound-isn-t-as-good-as-it-seems

Singapore Real Estate

Hind Group sells Keong Saik Road hotel amid buzz in shophouse market
Hind Group is selling Naumi Liora, a 79-room boutique hotel housed in 10 adjoining freehold conservation shophouses in Chinatown. The price is understood to be S$75-S$76 million, which works out to about S$2,800 per square foot on a gross floor area (GFA) of just over 27,000 sq ft. The shophouses, which are along Keong Saik Road, span two storeys and an attic.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/hind-group-sells-keong-saik-road-hotel-amid-buzz-in-shophouse-market

Selangor Dredging buys freehold site in Draycott Park for S$72m
Malaysia-listed developer Selangor Dredging Berhad, through its indirect 50 per cent associate Champsworth Development Pte Ltd, has acquired a freehold site in Singapore’s prime District 10 for S$72 million. The purchase of 1 Draycott Park from a Singaporean couple reflects a land rate of about S$1,787 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr), inclusive of an estimated development charge of about S$15.3 million.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/selangor-dredging-buys-freehold-site-in-draycott-park-for-s72m
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/malaysian-developer-buys-1-draycott-park-near-orchard-road
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/orchard-freehold-residential-plot-sold-for-72m?login=true

Honeywell sets up cybersecurity hub in Changi Business Park
New York-listed Honeywell Process Solutions will establish an industrial cybersecurity centre of excellence in Singapore – its first such centre in the Asia-Pacific. To be ready by the end of the year, the centre, located at Honeywell’s premises in Changi Business Park, will be set up with the support of the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB).
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/honeywell-sets-up-cybersecurity-hub-in-changi-business-park
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/new-cybersecurity-centre-to-open-in-singapore-by-year-end

HDB resale flat prices dip in May, volume climbs 8.1%: SRX
The transaction volume of Housing & Development Board (HDB) resale flats climbed 8.1 per cent month-on- month in May 2017 amid a 0.1 per cent price dip. These findings are based on SRX Property’s flash estimates released on Thursday for the public housing resale market for last month. The slight easing in SRX Property’s price index for HDB resale flats last month over April 2017 follows a 0.3 per cent month-on-month drop in April 2017. Year on year, the price index has shed 0.7 per cent from May 2016. From the peak in April 2013, the index has declined 11.6 per cent.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/hdb-resale-flat-prices-dip-in-may-volume-climbs-81-srx
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/housing/resale-volume-of-hdb-flats-up-81
http://www.todayonline.com/business/hdb-resale-volume-grew-81-cent-last-month

Companies’ Brief

MAS proposes moves to support growth of robo advisory firms
Low-cost, efficient portfolios for retail investors willing to take the digital or robo advisory route could soon become more widespread. More than a handful of digital advisory firms have already obtained licences as financial advisers or fund managers. Based on initial indications, portfolio fees are a fraction of those charged by unit trusts and investment-linked insurance funds.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/mas-proposes-moves-to-support-growth-of-robo-advisory-firms-0

Boustead Projects wins contract for chemical waste-treatment plant
Boustead Projects, a specialist in real estate solutions, has secured a design-and-build contract from Veolia ES Singapore Industrial for a hazardous chemical waste-treatment facility. The plant in Tuas will be Boustead Projects’ first undertaking for hazardous chemical waste-treatment facility and second in the waste management industry. The group said in its announcement on Thursday that it won this project through wholly owned subsidiary Boustead Projects E&C.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/boustead-projects-wins-contract-for-chemical-waste-treatment-plant

Sanli Env shoots up in debut trading
Sanli Environmental’s stock made a firm debut on the Catalist board of the Singapore Exchange (SGX) on Thursday, opening at S$0.40, almost double its issue price of S$0.225. The environmental engineering company in the field of water and waste management ended the day’s session at S$0.375, still up 67 per cent, after retreating from an intraday high of S$0.405. Some 26.8 million units changed hands on Thursday, making it one of the top five active counters on the local bourse.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/sanli-env-shoots-up-in-debut-trading

GLP seeks final proposals from bidders
Global Logistic Properties Limited (GLP) has invited short-listed bidders for the company to submit their firm proposals by June 30 for final evaluation. The special committee will evaluate the proposals in consultation with the group’s external advisers.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/glp-seeks-final-proposals-from-bidders
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/glp-calls-for-firm-proposals-for-its-strategic-review-by-end-of-june

Private equity firms, Hong Kong’s HKBN bid for Hutchison fixed-line unit
A consortium of private equity firms TPG Capital Management and MBK Partners, as well as telecoms firm HKBN Ltd, are preparing separate bids for the fixed-line phone unit of Hong Kong’s richest man, Li Ka-Shing, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/technology/private-equity-firms-hong-kongs-hkbn-bid-for-hutchison-fixed-line-unit

Views, Reviews & Forum

A Smart Nation needs a smart exchange
The United States has Edgar, an online database run by the Securities and Exchange Commission that lets investors download company filings in formats that are straightforward for both humans and machines to read. The Hong Kong bourse’s accessible listed company filings go as far back as 2000. And in Australia, investors can look for announcements as far back as 1998, as well as filings published on a specific date. The Singapore Exchange? Well, it has StockFacts, an online service that lets investors screen securities by criteria such as market capitalisation and price-to-equity ratio. That will undoubtedly be useful for current and would-be investors interested in company information.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/a-smart-nation-needs-a-smart-exchange

Singapore’s productivity challenge
Singapore, one of the greatest economic success stories in history, is losing its competitiveness. While the economy continues to grow, the pace of that growth has stagnated. Having expanded at an average of 7.7 per cent since independence in 1965, gross domestic product (GDP) growth decreased from 4.7 per cent in 2013 to 2 per cent in 2015 and 1.8 per cent last year. The growth rate is now comparable to those of Australia, Hong Kong and South Korea but many competing economies in the region outpace Singapore, including Indonesia (4.8 per cent), China (6.9 per cent) and India (7.6 per cent).
http://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/singapores-productivity-challenge

Collective sales destroying communities
It is sad to see reports of collective sales making the news again. At a time when Singapore is trying to build cohesion and unity, having homes sold en bloc is doing just the opposite to communities. Quite often, the key players in collective sale exercises are non-residents who instigate others to call for an Extraordinary General Meeting (EOGM) to appoint a committee of not more than three persons. When working on the proposal for the EOGM, they do not make a sincere and honest attempt to get the opinions of the residents in the estate.
http://www.straitstimes.com/forum/letters-in-print/collective-sales-destroying-communities

Beware the Indian market bubble
The Indian economy was presented with the lowest growth in three years with GDP growth of only 6.1 per cent in the latest quarter ended March 2017. The economy is likely to take a further hit as rising bad loans by Indian banks have led to stressed assets exceeding the provisions made by such banks by US$93 billion. This is happening at a time when stock prices are hitting record highs, overshooting the economic fundamentals.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/opinion/beware-the-indian-market-bubble

Risks stand in the way of global recovery
For the past two years, the global economy has been growing, but it has swung between periods of rapid expansion and deceleration. During this period, two episodes in particular caused United States and global equity prices to fall by about 10 per cent. Is a pattern emerging, or is a fitful global recovery set to stabilise?
http://www.todayonline.com/commentary/risks-stand-way-global-recovery