JLL sees more intensive land use near Singapore Buona Vista Station

JLL sees more intensive land use near Singapore Buona Vista Station

Area undergoing development to turn it into commercial and R&D hub
By KALPANA RASHIWALA

LAND use around Buona Vista Station is likely to be intensified to maintain the buzz from the development of one north and optimise the area’s improved accessibility when the new Circle Line intersects with the existing East-West Line.
Lush greenery: ‘The whole place will be very vibrant, like university towns in the US and UK,’ says DTZ executive director Ong Choon Fah
Making the point in a study on likely changes in Master Plan 2008, Jones Lang LaSalle’s head of research (South-east Asia) Chua Yang Liang says: ‘Buona Vista is fast becoming the next sub-regional centre for the western region’.

The area is undergoing intensive development to turn it into ‘a commercial and R&D hub’ with social and recreational amenities, as envisaged by official planners.

Property consultants expect more intense land use to be confined largely to the areas close to the existing and adjacent new (Circle Line) MRT stations and to sensitively integrated with lush greenery and colonial-type buildings in places like Rochester Park and Wessex Estate to create a blend of the old and new.

‘In other words, this is not going to be a sterile environment,’ says DTZ executive director Ong Choon Fah. ‘The whole place will be very vibrant, like university towns in the US and UK. MNCs tend to be attracted to where the talent is, where universities are.’

JLL identified several sites in the immediate vicinity of the existing and new Buona Vista MRT stations for its study on anticipated plot ratio changes in Master Plan 2008.

Two vacant state sites flanking the MRT stations, which are currently zoned for commercial use but without plot ratios specified in Master Plan 2003, could see plot ratios of 4.8-5.6 in Master Plan 2008, Dr Chua suggests, comparing them to the URA and MND buildings near Tanjong Pagar MRT Station and Revenue House near Novena MRT Station.

A reserve site - part of which is now used as a bus interchange - could be rezoned for commercial use integrated with a new bus interchange, JLL suggests in its study.

This would be akin to similar commercial buildings with bus interchanges near Ang Mo Kio and Toa Payoh MRT stations.

Two sites now zoned for Business 1 use (clean and light industrial/warehouse use) could have plot ratios raised from 2.5 to 2.8 to maximise their potential, JLL reckons.

New developments at one-north include Biopolis (the first two phases of which are already up) and Fusionopolis (phase 1 will be ready by the end of this quarter); a mixed use development by United Engineers that will include The Rochester condo, retail podium and business hotel; One North Residences by UOL, Low Keng Huat and Kheng Leong; and right next to the new Circle Line MRT Station, a civic, cultural and retail complex with a 5,000-seat theatre and a mall with mostly food and beverage and entertainment outlets, developed jointly by CapitaLand and Rock Productions. All of these are part of one north, which is positioned as an icon of a knowledge-based economy.

As well, Buona Vista is close to trendy areas like Holland Village and Rochester Park and several academic institutions including National University of Singapore, Insead, Anglo Chinese Junior College and Anglo Chinese School (Independent), and United World College, plus the emerging high-tech area of Tanglin Halt Industrial Estate.

Source : Business Times - 10 Jan 2008

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Singapore Pearlbank Apartments up for collective sale at $750m

Singapore Pearlbank Apartments up for collective sale at $750m

By ARTHUR SIM
THE 38-year-old Pearlbank Apartments development at Pearl’s Hill has been put up for collective sale at an indicative price of $750 million.
Marketing agent Knight Frank says that with a lease upgrading premium estimated at $143.3 million, the unit rate works out to be $1,456 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr), assuming the buyer can fully develop the site to baseline gross floor area of 56,998.8 square metres.

Knight Frank executive director Nicholas Wong said the site was put on the market last August. There were four expressions of interest but negotiations fizzled out in the wake of the US sub-prime crisis.

Pearlbank Apartments, which comprises 280 apartments and eight commercial units, was the first all-housing project constructed on a URA site. Some architects reckon the building has merit worth preserving, but it is not gazetted for conservation.

Mr Wong said more than 80 per cent of the owners have already agreed to go down the en bloc route. Based on the indicative asking price, he estimates most of them stand to collect 60-70 per cent more through a collective sale than they would individually.

Under the 2003 Master Plan, the site is designated for residential development at a plot ratio of 7.2. However, according to URA, the baseline gross floor area is 56,998.8 sq m. This is equivalent to a plot ratio of 7.447 on the land area of 7,653 sq m.

Based on an average unit size of 1,200 sq ft, 500 new apartments can be built on the site. There is also opportunity for the developer to integrate Pearl’s Hill City Park into the redevelopment, Mr Wong said.
Source : Business Times - 10 Jan 2008

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Bids for transitional Singapore office site fall short of expectations

Bids for transitional Singapore office site fall short of expectations

By ARTHUR SIM

THE Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has named the bidders for a 15-year leasehold transitional office site at Mountbatten Road. The top bid came in at $14.9 million or $69.17 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr) - 14 per cent less than the last site awarded, in Tampines.
Of the three bids received, the top price was offered by Mezzo Properties Pte Ltd. The bidder is understood to be associated with MV Land, which was awarded an industrial site at Sin Ming Lane in a public tender with a bid of $68.9 million or about $50 psf ppr in October 2007.

Superbowl Land put in the second highest bid of $14.8 million (or $68.70 psf ppr) while Soilbuild Group bid $10.93 million (or $50.77 psf ppr).

The URA said that the decision on the award of the tender will be made after the bids have been evaluated.

While the top bid falls short of market expectations, Cushman & Wakefield managing director Donald Han believed that the URA is likely to award the site as transitional offices have a mandate as a ‘quick fix’ to address the critical office supply crunch.

Based on recent tenders, prices for transitional office sites appear to be falling.

In November 2007, a tender for a transitional office site in Tampines drew just one bid of $10 million, which works out to $80.65 psf ppr, lower than the $100 psf ppr region that most property consultants had estimated.

The Mountbatten site being closer to the city and opposite the future sports hub, Mr Han had expected bids to be around $140 psf ppr. He said that based on the top bid, the potential developer of the Mountbatten site could stand to reap double digit yields if the space can be leased at $4-5 psf per month.
Source : Business Times - 10 Jan 2008

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Singapore Inflation rate could push past 6% in Q1

Singapore Inflation rate could push past 6% in Q1

Upward revision of value of public housing cited
By CHEW XIANG

SINGAPORE’S inflation rate could soar past 6 per cent in the current quarter, beating previous estimates, as an upward revision of the value of public housing kicks in this month and food and oil prices continue to climb.
‘We were previously looking at 3.9 per cent for this year, but I think it will be much higher,’ United Overseas Bank economist Ho Woei Chen said yesterday.

‘The revision (of annual values) will be quite significant, and we underestimated the extent of the taxi fare increase, the food price increase, oil price increase.’

The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore has raised its assessment of values across all flat types by 18-25 per cent from Jan 1. Housing value has a significant weight in the consumer price index (CPI).

‘(Inflation for the year) can potentially exceed the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s forecast of 3.5 to 4.5 per cent for 2008,’ Ms Ho said.

According to her, a lot will depend on the inflation figures for January. Core inflation, which excludes accommodation and private road transport costs, could also come in above the MAS forecast made in October of 1.5 to 2.5 per cent for the year, she reckons.

But ‘given some expectation of lower global growth this year I think there could be some self-correcting mechanism later this year’, she said.
‘We could see oil prices coming in lower this year’ which could bring down inflation closer to the end of the year, especially given the high base in November 2007.

The CPI that month surged 4.2 per cent year on year - a 25-year high.

UOB’s head of economics and treasury research Jimmy Koh said that rising asset prices, despite a falling Sibor (Singapore Interbank Offered Rate), could fuel further asset price inflation.

The three-month rate has fallen from 3.44 per cent a year ago to 2.13 per cent at the end of last week. This is less than the inflation rate, implying a negative real interest rate.

‘This is very unusual,’ Mr Koh said. ‘It’s because of foreigners coming in and participating in Singapore’s system.’

This is a new challenge because targeting the exchange rate encourages the inflow of liquidity, he said.

MAS data shows deposits by non-residents totalled $29.8 billion in October 2007 - almost three times the $10.6 billion in 2002.

Mr Koh added, however, that this is an ‘affirmation of the successful restructuring of the Singapore economy’, which is now showing up in local asset prices.

He said that going forward, the local economy needs to withstand the possibility of a recession in the US. ‘We just have to clear off this challenge, then we will be left with a cleaner system,’ he said.

He believes the Singapore dollar will embark on ‘a second leg of correction against the US dollar’, which will be ’slow and steady, dependent on what China will do’ on revaluing the yuan.

He expects a gradual appreciation of the Sing dollar against the US unit from 1.43 at the end of this quarter to 1.39 in Q1 2009.

The yuan should move from 7.23 to the US dollar at the end of the first quarter of 2008 to 6.75 by the end of Q1 2009, according to UOB estimates.
Source : Business Times - 10 Jan 2008

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Means testing: Life insurers’ body seeks talks with MOH -Singapore

Means testing: Life insurers’ body seeks talks with MOH -Singapore

Subsidy plans will have definite impact on health insurance market, says Life Insurance Association
By CHEW XIANG
THE Life Insurance Association is seeking talks with the Ministry of Health about the plans to vary the level of subsidies according to patients’ income or assets, known as means testing.

‘Insurers will have to review their product designs and pricing once details of the means testing are known.’

- The LIA

The association said yesterday that the plans will have a ‘definite impact on the health insurance market’.

In particular, the association will be ‘requesting that insurers be informed of the level of subsidies accorded to patients admitted to lower-class wards’.

Minister of Health Khaw Boon Wan announced on Monday that all patients in Class C and B2 wards will be subsidised but at varying amounts.

The level of subsidy could well depend on the patient’s income or housing type, he said. This means that those covered by the same health insurance plans but who have different tested means will incur different costs in hospitals.

‘Insurers will have to review their product designs and pricing once the details of the means testing are known,’ the association said.

‘For the majority of Singaporeans, it therefore becomes important that they are covered by an appropriate private medical insurance plan, as they can no longer be certain of qualifying for the high-level subsidies under B2 or C class wards in a restructured hospital,’ it said.

Insurance companies contacted declined to comment on possible changes.

Mr Khaw has not said when means testing will be implemented as work is still needed on the details.

He said, however, that patients will remain free to choose the type of ward to which they wish to be admitted.

Source : Business Times - 10 Jan 2008

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Singapore Ascott holders should take the money and exit

Singapore Ascott holders should take the money and exit

By UMA SHANKARI

EARLIER this week, property giant CapitaLand announced that it would make a general offer for its listed subsidiary Ascott Group, offering to buy all Ascott shares it does not own.
For Ascott’s minority shareholders weighing up the offer, there are several factors to consider. Their stock is now seeing poor liquidity and low trading volumes. The company is 66.5 per cent owned by CapitaLand and is tightly held by various institutions. Ascott’s low trading volume - estimated at less than US$2 million a day on average - has been an issue with some institutions that are interested in the company’s growth story, analysts have pointed out.

The offer price of $1.73 a share is decent. The price is 43 per cent higher than Ascott’s last traded price of $1.21 at the time of the offer and also represents a premium of about 145 per cent to Ascott’s unaudited net asset value per share as at Sept 30, 2007.

While the offer is nowhere near Ascott’s one-year high of $2.06 seen in May last year as well as below the target prices assigned to the stock by analysts, Ascott’s share price is unlikely to appreciate much in 2008 in view of the uncertain market.

Said CIMB analyst Khoo Chen Hsung: ‘While we expect Ascott’s share price to rise towards our target price of $2.25, rising equity market risk aversion is likely to limit its ascent to our sum-of-parts valuation of $2.25 over the next 12 months.’

Better offer is unlikely

And if this bid fails, a better offer from CapitaLand is unlikely to be forthcoming. Similarly, it is also unlikely that a competing bidder will emerge in view of the credit market turmoil.

With all this in mind, Ascott’s minority shareholders should take the money and exit a company that has little going for them. After all, those keen on an exposure to Ascott’s business model can instead buy into CapitaLand or Ascott’s listed Ascott Residence Trust (ART).

The market view seems to be that the offer will go through. UBS Investment Research, for example, said that shareholders will accept the offer.

‘Given the fragmented shareholding and volatile market outlook, we think the probability of investors rejecting the bid and a higher offer is low,’ said the research unit in a recent note.

On CapitaLand’s side, shareholders might be a bit concerned about the premium the developer will be forking out for Ascott’s shares. CapitaLand’s investment could hit $990 million - not a small amount by any reckoning.

Dilutive for pro forma earnings

The purchase will also be slightly dilutive for pro forma earnings and net tangible assets, and only mildly positive for revalued net asset value.

But a lot will depend on how well CapitaLand extracts value from a delisted Ascott.

The group has indicated that it will manage a wholly-owned Ascott in a more integrated fashion than it is currently doing, which might allow the service residence unit to grow at a faster pace.

The timing of the privatisation bid also shows that CapitaLand is starting to give more attention to extracting value from its listed vehicles given the weak equity market conditions. The move is timely, as property stocks - including CapitaLand - have taken a knock over the past few weeks.

However, the developer is unlikely to follow the same path with its other listed units, especially its real estate investment trusts (Reits).

CapitaLand is committed to its Reit strategy, and chief executive Liew Mun Leong has said that the group could well have 10 Reits in its portfolio in the long term.

In line with this, ART should remain the main listed Asian service apartment vehicle for CapitaLand. And following the same argument, one should not expect offers by CapitaLand for its other listed Reit associates like CapitaMall Trust and CapitaCommercial Trust.
Source : Business Times - 10 Jan 2008

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Singapore Ho Bee-IOI tie-up wins Sentosa’s Pinnacle site

Singapore Ho Bee-IOI tie-up wins Sentosa’s Pinnacle site

Bid of $1.1b seen as relatively low as US sub-prime crisis dampens market
By ARTHUR SIM
IT was the last chance for a bite of the sweet Sentosa Cove pie, but only three developers tendered for The Pinnacle Collection site with Ho Bee Investment and Malaysia’s IOI Properties partnering to put in the winning bid of $1.1 billion.

The Pinnacle Collection: Ho Bee expects the breakeven cost to be about $2,600 psf
In a joint statement released yesterday, the joint venture partners said its bid for the largest and last condominium development site works out to $1,822 per sq ft (psf) per plot ratio (ppr).

In July 2007, SC Global won the tender for The Beachfront Collection condominium site with a bid that works out to $1,800 psf ppr. Not only were five bids received, but SC Global’s winning bid also set a new benchmark price for Sentosa Cove, topping the highest bid of $1,361 psf ppr for The Seaview Collection tender held in March 2007 - also won by Ho Bee/IOI - by over 30 per cent.

The Pinnacle Collection was, however, awarded based on price and design concept.

Ho Bee has a 35 per cent stake in the project and news of the win, with what appears to be a relatively low bid, was greeted by investors positively yesterday. Its share price rose 3 per cent to end the trading day four cents higher at $1.39.

Ho Bee Investment executive director Ong Chong Hua said: ‘The US sub-prime crisis has in our view helped us to secure what we believe to be the best site, not only in Sentosa but also in Singapore, at a price level which would otherwise be much higher for such an iconic site under normal circumstances’.

Factoring in higher construction cost for a luxury development, Ho Bee expects the breakeven cost to be about $2,600 psf.

The 231,676 sq ft site has a 2.6 plot ratio and a total permissible gross floor area of about 602,360 sq ft. Mr Ong said it will build 280 units comprising a mix of three- and four-bedroom units as well as penthouses.

The development is targeted for launch in the first quarter of 2009.

Upbeat about the high-end market, Mr Ong said that while the sub-prime crisis has created some market uncertainty, the Singapore real estate market is fundamentally ‘very healthy’, backed by solid demand and robust economic growth.

‘We think the sub-prime crisis provided a very healthy consolidation to the market. It is a good reality check on the ‘irrational exuberance’ which we had experienced especially in mid-2007,’ he added.

He also believes the high-end market will consolidate in the next three to six months after which he expects a steady growth of 5-10 per cent.

This will be Ho Bee’s eighth project at Sentosa Cove and IOI Properties’ third foray into the Singapore property market.

On the tender price, CB Richard Ellis (Research) executive director Li Hiaw Ho noted that the winning bid was only 14 per cent above the reserve price of $1,600 psf ppr. ‘When the site was opened for tender in September 2007, market sentiment was more upbeat and it was widely expected that the winning bid would be in the region of $2,000 psf ppr,’ he added.

He noted that the latest launches in Sentosa Cove, the Turquoise and Marina Collections, were priced at an average of $2,600 psf and $2,700-$3,000 psf, respectively. He also expects The Pinnacle Collection to sell at around $3,000 psf.

Source : Business Times - 10 Jan 2008

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Jetstar Asia finally gets the green light from KL -Singapore

Jetstar Asia finally gets the green light from KL -Singapore

By VEN SREENIVASAN
(SINGAPORE) Malaysia yesterday clarified that Jetstar Asia does, in fact, qualify to operate the Singapore-Kuala Lumpur route despite its part-Australian parentage.
‘It is majority-controlled by Singaporean investors, and under the agreement, budget carriers nominated by the Singapore government are allowed to fly the route,’ Bernama quoted an unnamed Malaysian Transport Ministry official as saying.

This effectively erased doubts raised just days earlier by Malaysia’s Transport Minister Chan Kong Choy.

Speaking to the media at Kuala Lumpur International Airport’s (KLIA) 10th anniversary celebrations on Tuesday, Mr Chan said that because of Jetstar Asia’s Australian linkage, its eligibility to fly the route from Feb 1 was in question.

‘We will have to look into our aviation services agreement with Australia to see if Jetstar is allowed to fly that route because, currently, Jetstar is only allowed to operate from KLIA to Sydney,’ Mr Chan was quoted as saying by Malaysia’s The Star newspaper, referring to the government-to-government agreement. ‘I think the agreement with Australia does not allow that. Because it is an Australian airline, we still have to look into the deal.’

Asked about the matter yesterday, Singapore Minister for Transport Raymond Lim said Jetstar Asia is a Singapore-based airline.
‘I’m not sure if the report was referring to Jetstar (Australia) or Jetstar Asia,’ Mr Lim said. ‘Jetstar Asia is a Singapore carrier and is entitled to air rights from Singapore. And my understanding is that Jetstar Asia has received approval from the KL authorities.’

Last month, the governments of Malaysia and Singapore allowed budget carriers from both countries to operate a total of four daily services between the two cities starting February. Singapore’s Tiger Airways and Jetstar Asia will each operate one daily flight, while Malaysia’s AirAsia was given both services on the Malaysian side.

The decision - coming less than a year before the Asean partial open skies at the end of December 2008 - effectively breaks the 35-year monopoly by national carriers Singapore Airlines and Malaysia Airlines.

The Malaysian clarification was welcomed by Jetstar Asia’s chief executive Chong Phit Lian.

‘We were always very clear that we are a Singapore-based airline operating under Singapore Air Operators Certification,’ she said, adding that her airline had received ‘overwhelming’ response to its ticket sales.

Jetstar Asia is 45 per cent controlled by Qantas. Another 33 per cent is held by Temasek Holdings, while Singaporean businessmen Tony Chew and FF Wong jointly hold about 13 per cent. The rest is controlled by Star Cruises and former shareholders of Valuair (which Jetstar took over two years ago).

Industry insiders say the Malaysian minister could have confused Jetstar Asia with its Qantas-controlled and Melbourne-based sister carrier, Jetstar Australia, which started pan-Asian long-haul budget flights late last year, including to Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

But under current rules, even Jetstar Australia can operate Australia-Singapore-Kuala Lumpur flights, the Malaysian Transport Ministry official added.

Source : Business Times - 10 Jan 2008

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Job data suggests US recession is here: Merrill

Job data suggests US recession is here: Merrill

Never in past 60 years has jobless rate risen 60 points without a recession
By GENEVIEVE CUA
(SINGAPORE) A US recession is a reality, says Merrill Lynch in a Jan 7 report, calling for a defensive strategy and investments in high-quality bonds.

Job hunting: The level of unemployment is up 13% year-on-year, which is consistent with a recession
The firm’s North American economist David Rosenberg said last Friday’s employment data ’strongly suggests’ an official recession. For one, the unemployment rate hit 5 per cent in December against the March 2007 trough of 4.4 per cent. At no time in the past 60 years, he wrote, has the jobless rate risen 60 basis points without the economy slipping into recession.

Back-to-back declines in total hours worked - this indicator saw a 0.4 per cent fall in the fourth quarter, against a 0.6 per cent fall in the third - is also associated with a recession.

Another point is that the level of unemployment is up 13 per cent year-on- year, which is consistent with a recession. The year-on-year rate of change in the level of the unemployed who have been idle for at least 15 weeks is ‘particularly ominous’, he said, at 20 per cent. This was the pace in the early stages of previous downturns in 2001 and 1990.

The typical recession, he said, lasts 10 months, and sees the S&P 500 decline 60 per cent of the way through. ‘… so if you’re in the market for bottom picking, the historical record would be telling you to wait for May or June. Based on how the markets end up behaving peak-to-trough when the economy moves into a recessionary phase, we can see that right now the S&P 500 is priced 32 per cent of the way for a recession; and no sector is fully discounting this condition.’

Mr Rosenberg favours Treasuries and high-quality bonds. ‘We maintain our call not to be afraid of low yields but to focus on adding income and quality to the portfolio’. Treasury bonds, he said, outperform stocks on a total return basis by 2,700 basis points during a cyclical bear market, ’so bonds are the place to be’.

In a recession, the Federal Reserve cuts the funds rate by an average of 400 basis points. Both the Fed funds and long-term yields also continue to decline after the official downturn is over. In recessions, the S&P500 typically corrects by about 25 per cent.

The worst sectors are consumer discretionary and financials; the best performing are defensives like telecom, healthcare and utilities. The latter sectors may outperform the market by 400 basis points. ‘But keep in mind that all 10 S&P sectors are down in a recession, so there is nowhere really to hide.’

Mr Rosenberg warns that the unwinding of the real estate bubble could prolong the current downturn. But assuming a typical scenario, the recession could end around the fourth quarter of 2008. This suggests a market bottom in mid-year, ‘But by that time, an average recession would imply another 15-20 per cent downside to the equity market and is not a train you want to stand in front of… This then means a focus on defensive strategies.’

Separately, Reuters reported Goldman Sachs as saying yesterday it expects the US economy to drop into recession this year, prompting the Federal Reserve to slash benchmark lending rates to 2.5 per cent by the third quarter.
Source : Business Times - 10 Jan 2008

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Singapore Eng Wah properties put up for sale

Singapore Eng Wah properties put up for sale

Portfolio worth around $190m; bulk of proceeds may go to shareholders
By KALPANA RASHIWALA
(SINGAPORE) Eng Wah Organisation, the subject of a reverse takeover, has put a portfolio of five cinema, retail and office properties up for sale, which sources suggest could be worth about $190 million.
The five are Toa Payoh Entertainment Centre and Jubilee Theatre at Ang Mo Kio - both of which are shopping/entertainment complexes anchored by Eng Wah cineplexes - as well as the former Mandarin Theatre in Kallang Bahru and Empress Theatre in Clementi (which have been shut down) and the 16th floor of Orchard Towers.

The space in Orchard Towers comprises offices spread across three units - one occupied by Eng Wah and the other two leased out. There are plans for a collective sale of Orchard Towers, which stands on a freehold site in the prime Claymore area.

The other four properties are on sites with remaining leases ranging from 61 to 70 years.

Of the four cinema/retail assets, the ones in Ang Mo Kio and Toa Payoh (both close to MRT stations) can be refurbished and repositioned for a higher yield, while the other two properties at Clementi and Kallang Bahru, which are currently vacant, are candidates for redevelopment, said Jones Lang LaSalle’s regional director and head of investments Lui Seng Fatt. JLL is marketing the portfolio through an expressions of interest exercise that closes on Feb 14.

‘Eng Wah is open to selling the entire portfolio of five properties or any one or more of these properties individually,’ he added.

Eng Wah is prepared to lease back the cinema space in Toa Payoh and at Jubilee Theatre in Ang Mo Kio if the buyer offers it at a mutually agreeable rental rate. However, leaseback is not a condition for the sale, Mr Lui added.

The cinema-cum-entertainment group is in the midst of a reverse takeover by Japanese pharmaceutical firm Transcutaneous Technologies (TTI).

Eng Wah has said that upon completion of the deal, the group’s operations would be discontinued and substantially all its assets would be disposed of.

An earlier BT commentary pointed out that except for $10 million which will go to TTI, Eng Wah will distribute all proceeds from the sale of assets, together with cash in hand, to its shareholders.

At the time that the RTO was announced in May last year, Eng Wah managing director Goh Min Yen said the group was studying various options, including selling the entertainment businesses to the Goh family.

On the stock market yesterday, Eng Wah closed unchanged at 68.5 cents. It stood at 40.5 cents just before it made its RTO plans public
Source : Business Times - 10 Jan 2008

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