Retail sales up 3.8% in October

Retail sales up 3.8% in October
RETAIL sales grew 3.8 per cent year-on-year in October to $2.75 billion, the Department of Statistics (DOS) said yesterday.
All segments except vehicles saw higher sales than a year earlier, with petrol service stations showing the highest growth of 28.2 per cent because of the rise in petrol prices.

Other segments that showed double-digit growth included apparel and footwear and telecommunications apparatus and computers. Retail sales of vehicles dipped 5 per cent.

Excluding vehicles, retail sales rose 8.4 per cent from October 2006.
Overall retail sales rose 2.8 per cent in October from September, bolstered by petrol service stations, apparel and footwear, and watches and jewellery. Supermarkets, department stores and retailers of recreational goods, vehicles and furniture and household equipment also did better in October than September.

But sales of telecommunications apparatus and computers dropped 9.2 per cent in October, from a high base in September.

The catering trade index rose 6.3 per cent year-on- year in October, mainly due to higher receipts of food caterers, fast-food outlets and other eating places. At $367.9 million, it was also a 2.2 per cent increase from September.

Source : Business Times - 15 Dec 2007

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NKF moves forward with $31.2m in surplus

NKF moves forward with $31.2m in surplus

Fall in donations mitigated by cut in activities, savings in manpower costs
By CHOW PENN NEE

THE new leadership at the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) has been able to move on from the charity’s crisis of two years ago, strengthening reserves and seeing a surplus for the current financial year.
For the 18 months of December 2005 to June 30, 2007, the NKF turned in an excess of $31.2 million. On an annualised 12-month basis, this translates to $19.1 million, an 8 per cent increase of the previous financial year’s $17.7 million.

Strong investment gains made on the back of a robust economy and favourable market conditions were credited for most of the increase in surplus. Net income from investment management came up to $22.3 million for the 18 months, or $14.8 million annualised. This is 76 per cent higher than the previous year’s net income of $8.4 million.

‘The income next year (from investments) will not be as dramatic as was achieved this year,’ cautioned NKF chairman Gerard Ee. ‘We don’t expect to achieve this type of results unless (the economy) is in the same bullish state.’

The charity said in its annual report released yesterday that the new NKF management has adopted a more conservative investment strategy, to ensure capital guaranteed returns, rather than the previous balanced portfolio investment policy.

The charity has an investment committee which recommends an investment policy to meet the investment objectives of the NKF. The committee is chaired by Gan Seow Ann, SGX senior executive vice-president and head of markets, and its members are bankers or heads of asset management firms. NKF recently appointed Credit Agricole and UOB Asset Management to manage its money.

Another source of NKF’s funds is donations, although these were smaller than in the previous financial year. The fall-off in donations was mitigated by the charity ‘cutting its fundraising activities and savings in manpower costs’. Net income from donations and grants came to $37 million for the 18 months of FY06/07, or $24.7 million annualised. In contrast, FY05 recorded $42.9 million.

The absence of the charity show resulted in the decrease. The main source of donations this financial year came from the LifeDrops programme, where a set amount is deducted every month from donors through Inter Bank Giro or credit card. Currently, there are about 189,000 donors through this programme, compared to 280,000 donors just before the NKF scandal broke. ‘We will not aggressively go after donations but grow through promoting an understanding of what we do,’ said Mr Ee.

The accounts were also boosted by $4.1 million in settlement it is receiving from TT Durai, the charity’s former CEO.

Administrative costs have gone up. For the 18 months, it was $15.1 million, $4.6 million of which is a non-recurring legal expense paid to lawyers, forensic accountants and other supporting services relating to the court case against Durai, the former chairman and former directors. Annualised, excluding the non-recurring legal expenses, administrative costs were reduced from $8.8 million in FY05 to $7 million in FY 06/07.

The charity is currently also on the look-out for voluntary welfare organisations to whom it can rent out five floors of its Kim Keat premises. This could potentially bring in about $90,000 per month in rent for 29,000 square feet of space. All this surplus goes back to the charity’s total reserves, which stand at $269.5 million as at June, compared to $262.8 million in December 2005.

Mr Ee said that the board is looking at putting the reserves to good use by helping patients in a number of ways in addition to the traditional subsidies for treatment.

Source : Business Times - 15 Dec 2007

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Singapore Roundup

Singapore Roundup
S’pore, Japan to boost Asean integration
SINGAPORE and Japan signed a memorandum of discussion (MOD) to enhance the existing Japan-Singapore Partnership Programme for the 21st century (JSPP21). Under the Enhanced JSPP21 MOD, the two countries will strengthen their support of Asean integration by providing more human resource development programmes in the areas of trade and investment facilitation, information and communications technology development, and energy security.

US visa application fees to rise in Jan

APPLICATION fees for a US non-immigrant visa will rise to S$196.50, and US$355 for an immigrant visa, from Jan 1. The increases are said to be caused by rising costs in visa processing. Procedures for payment of the fees however remain unchanged - and applicants for non-immigrant visas will still have to obtain a cashier’s cheque from a local bank.

Database to help with cancer research

A TEAM of scientists under Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology & Research (A*Star) and Germany’s Max-Planck Institute for Biochemistry have completed a cancer genome analysis and profiling of protein tyrosine kinase alterations found in over 400 human cancer cell lines and primary tumour tissue. The information from the three-year-long project is expected to serve as a valuable resource for cancer researchers as well as facilitate the development of new cancer drugs.
Source : Business Times - 15 Dec 2007

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Singapore MAS releases new Basel II rules

Singapore MAS releases new Basel II rules

MAS says it will review the rules as necessary
By SIOW LI SEN
EVEN as the new Basel II rules governing capital requirements for banks are released in Singapore, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said it will monitor international developments and review them as necessary.
The MAS yesterday released Basel II rules in Singapore which seek to align capital requirements more closely with the risks that banks face.

The rules - four years in the making with extensive industry consultation - will take effect on Jan 1, 2008, the MAS said.

The MAS will implement the Basel II framework for Singapore - incorporated banks from Jan 1. They are Citibank Singapore Ltd, DBS Group Holdings, OCBC Bank and United Overseas Bank.

Basel II rules are global rules on capital requirements for banks and established by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision in June 2004. The committee was made up of a group of central banks and bank supervisory authorities in the industrialised G-10 countries.

Singapore is among a number of developed countries to implement Basel II next year.

But already regulators in the United States and Switzerland said this week that the new rules may need tightening to reflect the current credit market turmoil caused by the US mortgage defaults crisis.

Said an MAS spokeswoman: ‘The implementation of Basel II will make the minimum capital requirements for banks more sensitive (than under the current Basel Accord) to changes in banks’ risk profiles, including risks arising from securitisation exposures.’

In addition, the public disclosure requirements under Basel II will improve the information available to the market on the risk profile of individual banks, including information on banks’ securitisation activities.

‘MAS will continue to monitor international developments and review its rules as necessary,’ said the spokeswoman.

The Basel II framework, comprising three pillars, more closely aligns the minimum capital requirements for banks with the risks that they face.

Pillar 1 prescribes rules on how banks should calculate the minimum capital that they require to hold for credit, market and operational risks. Pillar 2 describes the accompanying supervisory review of a bank’s internal capital adequacy assessment and encourages banks to continually develop their risk management techniques. Pillar 3 prescribes minimum disclosure requirements to facilitate market discipline.

The MAS’s minimum Tier 1 and total capital adequacy ratios of 6 per cent and 10 per cent respectively remain unchanged.
Source : Business Times - 15 Dec 2007

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Doing good isn’t bad for business

Doing good isn’t bad for business

By LYNETTE KHOO
CORPORATE social responsibility has become a sexy term nowadays, with more businesses eager to incorporate social responsibility into their practices.
But the next step - businesses becoming social enterprises - still seems remote. Many assume that profit making does not go hand-in-hand with social objectives - a view aired at this year’s Social Innovators’ Forum. But that perception is a myth.

Instead of sticking to a single bottom-line, social enterprises tend to look at two key performance indicators - profits and social impact.

The Body Shop, for instance, is a global manufacturer and retailer of beauty and cosmetics products founded on five values: protection for the planet, fair trade, defence of human rights, enhancement of self-esteem and aversion to animal testing. It claims that the making of its cosmetic products involves no cruelty to animals, and that the ingredients it uses are obtained fairly. These qualities have actually become a successful branding tool.

Its charity, The Body Shop Foundation, provides financial support to pioneering, frontline organisations that have otherwise no chance of conventional funding. Still, The Body Shop’s operating profit has surged 173 per cent from 2002 to £41.5 million in 2006.
Locally, Bizlink Centre was set up to provide employment for people with disabilities. This non-profit organisation, which has been in the black since day one, currently has a surplus of $250,000. It went on to secure a contract to provide corporate gifts made by disabled persons for the International Monetary Authority/World Bank meeting held here last September.

Gateway Entertainment, which performs magic shows and produces drama feature films, also saw its Project Smile break even from the day it started with the help of corporate sponsors and the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports.

An afterthought

But for most outfits, socially responsible practices are often an afterthought rather than an objective that goes hand-in-hand with the goal of profit-making. Many believe, mistakenly, that serving social needs requires financial sacrifices. Companies need to snap out of this mistaken paradigm while consumers must shed the notion that products from social enterprises are of inferior quality.

Singaporeans often expect the government to take the lead. The recent recommendations by the Social Enterprise Committee (SEC) chaired by Philip Yeo to create a culture of social entrepreneurship is certainly a step in that direction.

One way is for businesses to to invest in existing social enterprises to maximise their value or to partner social enterprises or charities and provide them expertise and business mentoring.

The SEC recommendations to set up a Social Enterprise Association and a Social Enterprise Centre provide an institutional base for further action.

To speed up the process, perhaps more incentives could be given to commercial companies that partner with charities or social enterprises.

Another SEC recommendation that proposes profit-sharing for social enterprises funded by the Comcare Enterprise Fund (CEF) after a specified time period is also worth looking at.

Businesses will do well to realise that they can shape this movement without jeopardising their margins.
Source : Business Times - 15 Dec 2007

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Newly formed group seeks young business leaders - Singapore

Newly formed group seeks young business leaders - Singapore

By Gabriel Chen
LOOKING FOR TALENT: (From left) Mr Martin Tan of the National Family Council looks on as Mr Teo speaks to other business leaders such as Mr Menon and the Singapore Business Federation’s Mr Lim Chai Boon. — ST PHOTO: ASHLEIGH SIM

WANTED: A select group of young entrepreneurs for a newly launched national initiative.
Young Business Leaders (YBL), a new scheme spearheaded by the National Youth Council and a network of private and public sector organisations, is calling for members who are young entrepreneurs and business leaders between the ages of 25 and 40.

They can be self-employed or young executives in senior positions at leading multinationals, said Mr Teo Ser Luck, Parliamentary Secretary (Community Development, Youth and Sports) at the launch of YBL yesterday.

But not just anyone can be a member. YBL will represent about 50 prominent business leaders who are also actively engaged in the community.

Asked what incentives the young business leaders in Singapore will reap by their selection to YBL, Mr Teo said they will have the chance to network with high-level business people and movers and shakers during overseas trade missions.

‘It’s a win-win situation. They get to establish guanxi (connections); our youth sector gets more business opportunities,’ he said.

YBL aims to engage the business community in networking sessions and the sharing and sourcing of new business opportunities.

‘Engaging young adults in the community is a challenge as they have many pressing priorities in life such as career and family,’ explained Mr Teo.

‘Through cultivating selected interest areas, we hope to more effectively engage this group of young Singaporeans.’

He urged organisations such as the Singapore Business Federation, the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry to submit nominations to YBL until Jan 15.

Mr Predeep Menon, executive director and chief executive officer of the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that YBL is timely, even as organisations like themselves are proactively trying to get more younger members.

‘We’ve young members, but they tend to concentrate on business. We want them to take on active leadership,’ he said.

Mr Teo added that he hopes to see YBL members promote social causes and spearhead corporate social responsibility initiatives - that darling management buzzword.

Source : Straits Times - 15 Dec 2007

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Soaring oil prices boost sales value at service stations - sg

Soaring oil prices boost sales value at service stations - sg

By Nicholas Fang

SALES at petrol stations in Singapore recorded the highest rate of growth of any retail segment in October, in the wake of surging oil prices.
Latest figures from the Department of Statistics show that the value of retail sales at petrol stations jumped 28.2 per cent, compared to the same period last year.

This was the highest growth of the 14 segments in the retail sales index for October.

In contrast, retail sales of motor vehicles fell by 5 per cent, which could also be attributed to the higher price of oil. Crude oil surpassed US$99 a barrel for the first time last month.

Motor vehicles was the only category which saw lower sales compared to last year.

Other segments which enjoyed double-digit growth were wearing apparel and footwear, up 17.1 per cent, and telecommunications apparatus and computers, which improved 16.5 per cent.

Overall retail sales rose by 3.8 per cent compared to last year. Excluding motor vehicles, the growth was a brisk 8.4 per cent.

The total value of retail sales in October was estimated at $2.75 billion, up from $2.67 billion the previous month.

Compared to September, sales of telecoms apparatus and computers fell by 9.2 per cent, after reporting strong growth earlier.

Receipts of food and beverage outlets, provision and sundry shops, medical goods and toiletries companies, as well as the optical goods and books sectors, also declined, data showed.

Meanwhile, catering establishments enjoyed higher sales of $367.9 million in October, compared with $359.8 million the previous month.

This was a 6.3 per cent increase compared to October last year.

Source : Straits Times - 15 Dec 2007

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Singapore Office sector to finish 2007 as property’s star performer

Singapore Office sector to finish 2007 as property’s star performer

Prime office rents grew 92% this year; premium office rents have done even better - up 96%

By Jessica Cheam
SIZZLING: LaSalle puts the growth rate for grade A office rents at 70 per cent this year, the fastest in the region. — ST FILE PHOTO

RESIDENTIAL property may have been red hot, but office rents - with their phenomenal growth amid a severe supply crunch - will finish up as the year’s star performer.
Latest figures from property consultancy CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) confirm the trend.

CBRE executive director of office services Moray Armstrong told The Straits Times yesterday prime office rents grew 92 per cent this year from last year. Premium, or grade A, office rents did even better - up 96 per cent.

He said, however, this growth ‘won’t be sustainable next year’.

‘We’re likely to see it moderating at 15 per cent to 20 per cent’.

One trend seen this year, which is likely to accelerate next year, is the number of companies moving out of the Central Business District into non-prime areas, he said.

‘The costs are too high in prime areas. In the short term, there’s still a critical shortage of office space, and this will remain a favourable market for landlords and investors.’

Singapore’s monthly prime office rents shot up 82.6 per cent to $12.60 per sq ft (psf) in the year ended Sept 30, CBRE said previously.

Current levels have already exceeded the historical high reached in the early 1990s of $11.50 psf.

At a separate event yesterday, LaSalle Investment Management also predicted a 15 per cent to 20 per cent growth in office rents next year.

LaSalle, a unit of real estate broker Jones Lang LaSalle, placed the growth rate for grade A office rents at 70 per cent this year. ‘This is the fastest growth rate in the region,’ said the firm’s regional investment strategist for Asia-Pacific, Mr David Edwards.

‘In comparison, rents in the private residential market rose at a healthy, but milder, 25 per cent,’ he said.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority said office space rentals rose an overall 40.7 per cent for the nine months ended Sept 30 based on its official office rental index. Its figures for the year are due next month.

The Government has released transitional office sites - where buildings can be constructed quickly - to relieve the short-term supply crunch.

Two of these - at Scotts Road and Tampines - have been awarded, while two more at Mountbatten and Aljunied Road are now being tendered.

A more permanent supply is expected by 2010, and Mr Armstrong believes this will ‘deliver a great balance between supply and demand’.

Some analysts, such as Citigroup, however, recently warned of a supply glut to come. ‘We see no reason to conclude it will be an oversupply situation,’ countered Mr Armstrong.

‘With Singapore’s diversified economy boom, mass market residential and retail properties will also perform well,’ said Mr Edwards.

LaSalle plans to invest $20 billion in Asia-Pacific properties over the next three to four years, half of which will be in Japan. Demand is rising for modern logistics offices and shopping malls, said Mr Edwards.

The firm also recommends South Korea, for moderate-risk investors, and emerging markets such as China, India and Southeast Asia, for investors with a bigger appetite for risks.

LaSalle said it would also integrate sustainability concerns into its investment strategies.

‘Where environmental concerns was previously ‘interesting’, it is now necessary,’ said Mr Edwards. Given the soaring prices of crude oil, energy- efficient buildings have become very attractive investments.

‘Tenants are also increasingly demanding green buildings. In the long term, if investors don’t take this sustainable approach, it will have a negative impact on their portfolio,’ added Mr Edwards.

Source : Straits Times - 15 Dec 2007

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S’pore Parents soak in tips to ease Primary 1 blues

S’pore Parents soak in tips to ease Primary 1 blues

Self-help groups hold Bridging Programme to guide parents and first- time primary schoolers

By Ho Ai Li
DOING IT RIGHT: About 80 parents attended talks at Evergreen Primary on easing their children’s entry into Primary 1. One expert advised parents not to put too much stress on children just starting on their learning journey. Another urged them to spend time with their kids.

SELF-HELP groups have been getting together to ease the Primary 1 blues of lower-income parents and their first-time primary schoolers - through a specially tailored programme.
A number of these children have not even attended kindergarten classes.

The Bridging Programme, into its second year, aims to help both the parents and their children cope with a school environment.

It also hopes to nip in the bud the problem of lower primary pupils losing interest and dropping out of school.

Yesterday, about 80 parents - mothers, grandmothers and a few fathers - sat attentively in two classrooms at Evergreen Primary in Woodlands, soaking up tips on easing their children’s entry into Primary 1.

Mr Christopher Kong, 32, a family life educator with Fei Yue Community Services, addressed his class of Mandarin-speaking parents.

‘Primary school can be likened to a 800m swimming event. If you give it everything in the first few laps, you may not have enough to last,’ he said in Mandarin.

He was making the point that parents should not put too much stress on a child just starting on his or her learning journey in school.

In the adjacent room, Mr Ismail Ibrahim, 50, head of a preschool teacher training centre, quizzed Malay-speaking parents on their children’s likes and aspirations.

‘I told the parents they must spend time with their children. A positive home environment means the children will stay home after school,’ he told The Straits Times.

Apart from parents, children taking part in the programme run by four self-help groups - the Chinese Development Assistance Council, Singapore Indian Development Association, Mendaki and the Eurasian Association - include not only 29 who missed preschool, but also those who attended kindergarten but are still not ready for Primary 1.

Over the last four weeks, 120 six-year-olds had been picking up English and social skills at six primary schools across the island.

Talks for parents were introduced because parents play a key role in the child’s development, said Ms Zuraidah Abdullah, chief executive officer of Mendaki, the Malay-Muslim self-help group.

An estimated 3 per cent of each cohort, or about 1,200 children, do not attend preschool. The Education Ministry hopes to reduce this to 2.5 per cent in five years.

The programme is not so much to teach children to read and write, but to make sure that they can cope with Primary 1, said Ms Jane Lim, executive director of the Association for Early Childhood Educators, which helps run it.

This means giving them the skills to understand simple instructions, get along with friends and even acquire the confidence to ask where the toilet is, she said.

Other skills include knowing how to make decisions on what to buy in the canteen.

One dad has already seen a difference in his daughter who was in the programme.

Mr Teh Swee Hong, 34, who is a rag and bone man, said Elisa, six, the youngest of his three children, had missed half a year of kindergarten because he could not afford it.

‘She was quite introverted. But now she has learnt to sing and is very lively,’ said Mr Teh in Mandarin.

A housewife, who wanted to be known only as Ms Jaffar, 38. said her daughter would cry in kindergarten because she ‘was afraid of the teacher there’.

The six-year-old has since grown in confidence and learnt to interact more, said the mother of five children, aged 14 to nine months.
Source : Straits Times - 15 Dec 2007

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Expat school offers guaranteed place for a cool $165,000 - Singapore

Expat school offers guaranteed place for a cool $165,000 - Singapore

Tanglin Trust School starts scheme as more foreign families move here

By Sandra Davie, Education Correspondent

HOW much is a place in an elite international school worth? Well, about $165,000 if you run a company and hope to bring in foreign talent with school-aged children.
For that fee, employers can secure a place in the Tanglin Trust School for their employees’ children.

A lower payment of $65,000 will take a child to the top of the school’s waiting lists for different levels, which have over 700 names.

Neither sum, however, includes the school’s tuition fees, which are between $20,000 and $25,000 a year.

The school, much sought after by British expatriates here, announced its new schemes yesterday.

‘The programme benefits the school, global business and Singapore’s drive to attract the finest talent to this country,’ said Tanglin’s chief executive officer Steven Andrews, yesterday.

The Portsdown Road school offers a British curriculum for children aged three to 18 years. Like several of the other 40 international schools here, Tanglin Trust has seen its waiting list grow in the last year.

The booming economy has brought more foreigners, with the expatriate population growing from 798,000 in 2005 to 875,500 last year.

Companies looking to relocate foreign employees here are finding that families are unwilling to commit to a move to Singapore without a place in an international school for their children.

Tanglin Trust said that for a start, 200 places will be offered next year under the new scheme. Eventually, up to 20 per cent of places will be sold under what it calls the ‘Placement Rights’ programme.

The school hopes to boost enrolment from the current 2,200 to 3,000 over the next four years. It will use the placement fees to expand its campus and provide state-of-the-art facilities, Mr Andrews said.

Tanglin Trust said some multinational corporations had approached the school inquiring after a similar scheme, but it declined to name them.

So far, its plan has drawn mixed reviews.

The British Chamber of Commerce said British companies would welcome the scheme.

The American Chamber of Commerce, which had set up a committee to look into the shortage of places in international schools, said its members discussed the idea but were not keen on it.

One British mother thought the scheme was unfair to those already on the waiting list who will now find themselves pushed further down the queue. She is waiting get her daughter into Tanglin Trust next year.

She said her husband was working in Singapore on local terms and they would not be able to afford the $65,000 to move up the queue.

But another Briton, who is relocating here with his family from Hong Kong, welcomed it.

Mr Howard Stills, 36, pointed out that schemes like the Tanglin Trust’s were long established in Hong Kong’s schools for children of expatriates.

‘I am ready to move, but finding school places for my two children has been a problem,’ said Mr Stills, who works in finance and has two young children.

Source : Straits Times - 15 Dec 2007

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