Record sales of new Singapore private homes in 2007

Record sales of new Singapore private homes in 2007

Total of 14,826 sold, mostly in first nine months, before sales slid sharply at year-end

By Fiona Chan, Property Reporter
HOMEBUYERS picked up a record number of new private homes last year - before demand dipped sharply at year-end.
They bought 14,826 new homes in the year, up from 11,147 the year before, according to the latest figures from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).

This all-time high figure was boosted by sales in the first nine months, when 90 per cent of last year’s deals were done, said property consultancy CB Richard Ellis (CBRE).

Demand then went into a freefall in the last months of the year amid a slew of worries, including concerns over the United States sub-prime mortgage crisis.

New home sales, which had averaged 1,480 a month between January and September, fell to below 600 per month in October and November.

Last month, a mere 305 deals were done, the lowest number since the URA started tracking monthly new home sales in June. All the figures exclude executive condominiums.
December also saw a dip in the median price of new homes. Price gaps within each category of new homes also narrowed, said consultancy Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL). It noted that the gap between the highest and lowest prices for city-centre and mid-tier homes narrowed to its smallest in recent months.

But the year-end decline was ‘expected’, said JLL’s head of Singapore research, Mr Chua Yang Liang. He said the ‘looming uncertainty from the US sub-prime issue’, coupled with the usual ‘lull period’ in December led to fewer launches of new projects and fewer home sales.

Developers tend to launch fewer projects at the end of the year because of the holidays. They launched only 1,673 units in the fourth quarter last year, about a third of that in each of the first three quarters.

But a bigger reason for the slowdown could be the fact that recent asking prices have soared so much, said Mr Ku Swee Yong, director of business development and marketing at Savills Singapore. ‘A lot of recent new home transactions are at record-high prices,’ he said.

Last year, developers sold almost 200 new homes at more than $4,000 per sq ft (psf), Savills said - a level never reached in previous years.

Even in December, three units at the Ritz-Carlton Residences in Cairnhill went for more than $5,000 psf.

Units at the Marina Collection also fetched record prices for Sentosa Cove last month at a median price of $2,734 psf, said CBRE.

‘There is now a 15 to 20 per cent gap between what developers are asking for and what buyers seem willing to pay,’ Mr Ku said.

This has led to a ’stand-off’ and a more cautious mood among buyers which may persist well into this year, he added.

Already, the median prices of new uncompleted units have started to slide, said Knight Frank. They eased from $1,110 psf in November to $1,063 psf last month.

New home sales last month dropped off most in the mid-tier and suburban regions, consultants said.

Only 56 mid-tier units were sold in December, 80 per cent less than in November. For suburban projects, the number of units sold fell 35 per cent to 60.

In the prime city centre, new home sales jumped 36 per cent to 175, boosted by a bulk purchase of 97 units in Goodwood Residences at a median price of $3,200 psf.

New launch Zenith in Zion Road also helped city-centre sales, with 37 units sold at a median price of $1,665 psf.

Source : Straits Times - 16 Jan 2008

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GIC pumps $9.8b into troubled Citigroup

GIC pumps $9.8b into troubled Citigroup
By Grace Ng, Finance Correspondent
THE Government of Singapore Corporation (GIC) is investing US$6.88 billion (S$9.82 billion) in the troubled American banking giant Citigroup, it said last night.
It is GIC’s second largest investment and came on a day of dreadful news for Citi, which has been battered by the credit crisis rocking the global financial system.

Citi reported US$9.83 billion in net losses for the fourth quarter, and is reportedly planning to axe 20,000 staff or more. It also took a massive US$18.1 billion write-down for exposure to dodgy sub-prime mortgages.

But GIC stressed yesterday that what at first glance might look like a risky investment has built-in safeguards that will protect its downside. The use of a certain kind of security means GIC gets a relatively lower rate of return, but has more protection if Citi’s share price plummets further.

Indeed, the investment’s structure ‘gives appropriate downside protection’ and meets GIC’s ‘long-term investment objective in terms of risk and return’, said Dr Tony Tan, GIC deputy chairman and executive director, in a statement yesterday.

Dr Tan described Citigroup as ‘an excellent addition to GIC’s portfolio as it is one of the largest banks in the world with an attractive global franchise’. He added that GIC has confidence in Citigroup’s board of directors, who have taken ‘decisive action to… strengthen the balance sheet and profitability of the bank’.

The Straits Times understands that the long-standing ties between GIC senior executives and Citi’s leadership were partly why GIC was one of the first institutions the US bank approached during this most recent round of cash-raising.

Citi chief executive Vikram Pandit told a results briefing in New York yesterday that GIC is ‘a widely respected, long-term oriented investor’ and that he has ‘known the principals for years’. The announcement caps a dismal period for Citi, which has been desperate to shore up its capital base.

GIC’s investment was the largest in a new round of fund-raising that netted a total of US$12.5 billion from private investors, including the Kuwait Investment Authority, Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and asset management firm Capital Research & Management.

Citi is also raising US$2 billion more from a public offering.

GIC made a similar strategic investment less then a month ago, spending 11 billion Swiss francs (S$14.45 billion) to buy a stake of about 9 per cent in the beleaguered Swiss bank UBS, another victim of the sub-prime meltdown.

The two deals are structured differently. The UBS investment is in the form of ‘convertible notes’, which pay an annual return of 9 per cent. These must be converted into UBS stock within two years of the date of issue.

The Citi deal employs a type of security called a perpetual convertible security. This provides a fixed annual dividend of 7 per cent and allows GIC to hold the securities for as long as it chooses, subject to certain conditions. GIC may convert these securities into shares at a fixed price, which will be 20 per cent above the stock’s average price over the next few trading days.

Citigroup shares closed in New York on Monday at US$29.06, a drop of 47 per cent over the last year.

GIC, which manages Singapore’s reserves, already holds a 0.3 per cent stake in Citi. The new investment will allow it to raise its holding to about 4 per cent, making it one of the largest single shareholders. But GIC stated that it is not seeking a board seat at Citi.
Source : Straits Times - 16 Jan 2008

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Half of workers to get full subsidy -Singapore

Half of workers to get full subsidy  -Singapore

Bottom earners will still get 80% subsidy in C-class wards and 65% in B2 class

By Salma Khalik, Health Correspondent

JUST how much of your hospital bill will be covered by Government subsidies after means testing kicks in is clearer now, after Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan yesterday gave more details of the scheme.
The bottom half of all workers will continue to get full subsidy at public hospitals - 80 per cent in a C-class ward and 65 per cent in a B2-class ward.

The top 20 per cent of earners will still get subsidised, but by a lower amount - 65 per cent in C- class and 50 per cent in B2.

And if your income falls between these groups, the subsidy level will be on a sliding scale, between what the top and bottom earners pay.

How will these income levels be decided? Mr Khaw told 250 union leaders yesterday that using the current month’s salary was not a good idea, because people who fall sick in a month when they get a bonus would be penalised.

Instead, he will look at the average of the past 12 months’ salary.
The details are still being worked out, but using the June 2006 Labour Force survey as an indicator, the bottom half of earners have monthly incomes of $2,040 or less.

Mr Khaw said he decided on the upper and lower limits after getting feedback from more than 1,000 people in the past week, after he announced plans for means testing.

He has explained that basing the amount of subsidy on income levels for the employed, and housing types for retirees, housewives, children and the unemployed, is inevitable.

It will enable the Government to provide better care for the poor in the future, without also attracting the well-off to compete for scarce resources.

Yesterday’s session at NTUC Centre, his third so far, was a lively one. Exchanges were fiery and humorous at times during the 21/2-hour session, as Mr Khaw fielded questions such as how the subsidy levels would be decided, whether there would be enough subsidised beds, and whether the asset-rich but cash-poor elderly could cope with the high cost of outpatient care.

He spent much of the night reassuring the audience that he prefers to err on the side of generosity, and that the majority of people will not need to worry.

This led one unionist, Mr Philip Soh, to jokingly urge the minister to ‘please make more errors’.

But to another suggestion that older people should get more subsidy, or even free treatment, Mr Khaw gave an emphatic ‘no’.

‘There are rich elderly and poor young,’ he said. That is why he has decided to use personal income or housing-type to determine their ability to pay.

At the end of the dialogue, NTUC secretary-general Lim Swee Say promised to support means testing when Mr Khaw raises the subject in Cabinet.

‘After tonight’s session, I feel very reassured,’ said Mr Lim, who is also Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office.

While the Government is willing to help, he said people must also help themselves.

He urged the union leaders present to get members, especially casual workers, to contribute to their Central Provident Fund (CPF) savings and to use their Medisave to buy MediShield, the national health insurance scheme.

He said that last year, the union managed to persuade 6,000 casual workers to open CPF accounts and to contribute to Medisave.

Different subsidies

Bottom 50% income bracket:

Source : Straits Times - 16 Jan 2008

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CapitaLand, NUS sell Hitachi Tower - Singapore

CapitaLand, NUS sell Hitachi Tower - Singapore

By UMA SHANKARI
CAPITALAND has sold its 50 per cent stake in Hitachi Tower for $403.5 million, the property giant said yesterday.
Upon the deal’s completion, CapitaLand will recognise a gain of $110.1 million, it said.

The National University of Singapore, which owns the remaining 50 per cent of the Collyer Quay office building, also sold its stake.

The deal took into consideration the agreed value of the 999-year leasehold Hitachi Tower at $811 million, or about $2,900 per square foot (psf) of net lettable area. The consideration was arrived at on a willing-buyer willing-seller basis, CapitaLand said.

The developer did not name the buyer in its filing to the Singapore Exchange, but sources said that the building was bought by a fund linked to Goldman Sachs.

Goldman Sachs bought the next-door Chevron House, formerly known as Caltex House, for $2,780 psf in August last year. Chevron House is on a site that had a remaining lease of 81 years at the time of the transaction.

The 37-storey Hitachi Tower has a net lettable area of around 279,600 square feet. The building had close to 100 per cent occupancy as at Dec 31, 2007, and key tenants include Hitachi Asia and American Express.

Market watchers have said that it makes sense for Goldman to own two adjoining office blocks as it can take advantage of managing them together, as well as look into the possibility of redeveloping both properties collectively.

A Goldman Sachs real estate fund also bought DBS Towers 1 and 2 on Shenton Way in November 2005 for $690 million, or around $800 psf of net lettable area.

Based on CapitaLand’s unaudited financial statements for the nine months ended Sept 30, 2007, the group’s earnings per share would have increased from 74.4 cents to 78.3 cents assuming that the sale was effected on Jan 1, 2007, the company said.

CapitaLand’s shares shed 13 cents to close at a one-year low of $5.62 yesterday amid a broad fall in the Singapore stock market. The company’s stock price has dropped some 10.4 per cent since the start of the year.
Source : Business Times - 16 Jan 2008

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Soxal to build $250m hydrogen plant on Jurong Island - Singapore

Soxal to build $250m hydrogen plant on Jurong Island - Singapore

By MATTHEW PHAN
(SINGAPORE) Neste Oil’s decision, announced a month ago, to build the world’s largest biodiesel facility in Tuas, is already yielding add-on investment.
At a joint press conference yesterday, Singapore Oxygen Air Liquide (Soxal), a subsidiary of French- owned Air Liquide, said it would invest $250 million to build Singapore’s first world-class hydrogen facility on Jurong Island to support Neste, as well as other refiners in the area.

Hydrogen is used to reduce the sulphur content in automotive fuels, and refiners will need it to meet increasingly stringent vehicle emission standards in Singapore, like the Euro IV, Soxal’s regional director for South-east Asia, Lee Chun Wah, told BT.

It is also needed to process heavy crude oil into usable fuels, and is used by the chemical industry as well.

Soxal’s investment will more than double existing hydrogen capacity in the Jurong Island and Tuas area, said Mr Lee.

The plant, called a Steam Methane Reformer, will produce some 100,000 cubic metres of hydrogen per hour.

Soxal will also build a 30km-long pipeline network from the plant on Jurong Island to Neste’s upcoming biodiesel plant in Tuas. The pipeline will serve other refining customers along the way.

Currently, hydrogen capacity on Jurong Island is largely ‘merchant business’, which means the refiners build their own in-house hydrogen plants, said Mr Lee. There are a few small third-party providers, including Soxal, which have only about 5,000 cu m per hour of capacity.

Hydrogen production is capital intensive. The plant will employ 20-30 highly skilled engineers when completed, he said.

Soxal will start construction soon and complete the plant by 2010, in order to support Neste’s biodiesel plant, which is scheduled to come onstream by the end of that year.

Neste’s plant will cost some $1.2 billion and have a designed capacity of 800,000 tonnes a year of NExBTL, its proprietary clean diesel fuel.

Fielding several questions about the rising price of crude palm oil, which will be the plant’s main feedstock, Risto Rinne, president and CEO of Neste, said the firm’s technology allows it to use many different feedstock - from vegetable oils like jatropha, to algae, or even animal fat - to produce biodiesel.

When the plant comes onstream in 2010, ‘it won’t be only palm oil’, he said. ‘There will be other feedstock by that time.’

Nonetheless, over 50 per cent of the plant’s feedstock will be palm oil, he estimated.

According to Reuters, crude palm oil prices rose over 50 per cent in 2007, and touched recent highs of over $1,000 a tonne. In Singapore, a 600,000 tonne biodiesel plant owned by Australia’s Natural Fuel is running at just 10 per cent of capacity, Reuters said, quoting a market source close to the company.

Mr Rinne said Neste, which is based in Finland, will source palm oil from Malaysian and Indonesian suppliers certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil.
Source : Business Times - 16 Jan 2008

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2008 Singapore construction deals seen hitting record $27b

2008 Singapore construction deals seen hitting record $27b

BCA forecast based on strong demand from private sector
By UMA SHANKARI
(SINGAPORE) The value of construction contracts awarded this year will reach $23-27 billion on the back of strong demand from the private sector, according to official estimates released yesterday.

Last year, the total value of construction contracts awarded hit $24.5 billion - also mainly due to strong private sector demand - according to the Building and Construction Authority (BCA).

The figure came in slightly above analysts’ estimates of around $24 billion as well as BCA’s previous estimate of $19-22 billion.

In terms of nominal value, last year’s figure is higher than the peak demand of $24.4 billion seen in 1997. But if inflation is taken into account, last year’s demand still fell about 9 per cent short of the total value of contracts awarded in 1997, BCA said.

Analysts said that the pace of contracts awarded in 2007 shows that growth is still to come.

‘The $24.5 billion number is certainly impressive,’ said Citigroup economist Kit Wei Zheng. ‘Consider this. In the first 10 months of the year, we had $18.5 billion of construction contracts. This implies that $6 billion of contracts were awarded in November and December alone - roughly $3 billion a month. This is far higher than the $1.85 billion monthly average in the January to October period.’

Mr Kit said that the trend indicates that the pipeline of future contracts is likely to support construction GDP growth well into the second half of 2008 and 2009.

For this year, the private sector is again expected to account for the bulk of construction demand, mostly from residential and commercial developments. In 2007, some $18.8 billion worth of contracts came from the private sector.

However, the high construction demand is expected to continue to exert pressure on the construction industry’s resources by driving costs up and leading to a capacity crunch.

In 2007, the price of ready-mixed concrete climbed 75 per cent to $130 per cubic metre, while the price of steel bars rose 34 per cent to $1,000 per tonne, BCA’s data showed. Labour costs are also on the way up. Overall construction costs increased as much as 40 per cent last year, analysts said.

Many developers are also reporting that most contractors are fully booked for 2008.

Addressing this, the government said that it is ‘taking proactive measures’ to ease the pressure on construction resources.

Last November, it identified more than $2 billion worth of public sector projects that could be rescheduled to 2010 or beyond. ‘All ministries are currently combing through their list of projects to identify more projects for rescheduling,’ Parliamentary Secretary for the Ministry of National Development Mohamad Maliki bin Osman said yesterday.

BCA will also increase the number of overseas testing centres to 25 by mid-2009, up from 19 at present. This would allow more foreign workers to be employed.

The government is also encouraging the industry to use more recycled and alternative construction materials. A proposed licensing scheme for importers of materials like sand and granite is being finalised, said Dr Maliki.

He said that the assistance scheme that BCA implemented last year to share the risk of bringing in sand from distant sources will be ended, since it has been a year since Indonesia banned the export of concreting sand to Singapore. ‘The move is based on feedback from the industry that the scheme is no longer necessary,’ Dr Maliki said.

BCA also intends to continue to encourage the development of environmentally sustainable buildings. New guidelines on concrete usage will be introduced later this month, it said.
Source : Business Times - 16 Jan 2008

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Sleepy December takes the shine off sparkling year-Singapore

Sleepy December takes the shine off sparkling year-Singapore

Record 14,826 private home sales in 2007, but only 305 in its last month
By KALPANA RASHIWALA
(SINGAPORE) A year that started with a bang ended with a whimper. Developers sold a record 14,826 private homes last year - a third more than the year before. But sales slowed to a trickle in December at only 305, or half the 593 in November. This reflected slower launches amid a cautious buying mood.
Private home purchases by individuals in December were actually much weaker, as almost 32 per cent of developers’ sales that month were accounted for by GuocoLand’s bulk sale of 97 units at Goodwood Residence to Kuwait Finance House.

CB Richard Ellis’s analysis of the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s data on developers’ December private home sales in 2007 shows 90 per cent were in the first nine months, before the market turned wary on factors such as global stockmarket volatility, US sub-prime mortgage problems, escalating oil prices and inflation.

Analysts say other factors that dented the home-buying mood in December were the withdrawal of the deferred payment scheme in October, triggering fears of more cooling measures, as well as a general holiday mood.

Knight Frank’s analysis shows the median price of private homes and executive condos (ECs), a hybrid of public and private housing, sold by developers fell 4.2 per cent to $1,063 psf in December from $1,110 psf in November. Again, market watchers point out that the median price for December would have been much weaker if not for GuocoLand’s sale of the 97 Goodwood Residence units at a median price of $3,200 psf.

Another reflection of the ‘dwindling value’ of units transacted was that developers sold only five in December at more than $4,000 psf, down from 17 in November, said Knight Frank’s director (consultancy and research) Nicholas Mak.

The highest-priced transaction in the primary market in December was $5,146 psf, achieved for The Ritz-Carlton Residences at Cairnhill Road. A check with developer Royce Properties, part of Hayden Properties, showed the price was for a four-bedroom unit on the 31st floor. December’s highest unit price was still shy of the record $5,600 psf set in October at The Orchard Residences.

The lowest transaction in the primary market last month was $571 psf for an apartment at D’Lotus in Lorong Ampas.

Jones Lang LaSalle said the average gap between the highest and lowest transacted prices has been narrowing across all three regions used by URA - the Core Central Region, Rest of Central Region and Outside Central Region - in the past few months. In December, the gap was narrowest in Outside Central Region at just 5 per cent, compared with 12 per cent in November. The gap was 8.2 per cent in Core Central Region and 9.8 per cent in Rest of Central Region last month, again smaller than November’s 11.4 and 25.7 per cent.

‘The more bullish and speculative buyers are, the bigger the gap tends to be, reflecting their willingness to pay higher prices and leading to a bigger disparity between lowest and highest prices in a development,’ said JLL’s head of research (South-east Asia) Chua Yang Liang. ‘When buyers turn cautious, the disparity reduces - which is what we are seeing now.’

Colliers International director Tay Huey Ying said that of the 492 private homes and ECs launched by developers in December, only 47 per cent were sold that same month. This was lower than November’s figure of 70 per cent. ‘With all the uncertainty on the direction of home prices, many potential buyers chose to stay on the sidelines, especially since it was also the holiday period,’ Ms Tay noted. ‘Hopefully, there will be clearer signs on the direction of the market after Chinese New Year.’

The official index for private home prices rose 31 per cent last year, going by an earlier flash estimate. CBRE, which is predicting 10-15 per cent appreciation in the index this year, expects most of this gain to come from the mass-market and mid-tier sectors. It expects developers to launch 12,000-15,000 private homes and to sell some 9,000-11,000.

‘Although the mood seen in Q4 2007 has persisted in January, it is likely that sales momentum will pick up as developers launch more projects to give more choice to potential buyers,’ CBRE said.

Yesterday’s data shows developers launched 492 private homes in December, down 17.7 per cent from November. However, the full-year tally of 14,049 private homes launched in 2007 was up 27 per cent from 2006.

Source : Business Times - 16 Jan 2008

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Citigroup posts US$9.8b Q4 loss, cuts dividend - NEW YORK

Citigroup posts US$9.8b Q4 loss, cuts dividend - NEW YORK

Bank’s mortgage portfolio loses US$18.1b in value

(NEW YORK) Citigroup Inc posted its first quarterly loss in 16 years for the last three months of 2007, when the bank’s mortgage portfolio lost US$18.1 billion in value.
The United States’s largest bank, which lost US$9.83 billion for the fourth quarter, also cut its dividend to boost its cash levels and said that it had raised US$14.5 billion in fresh capital, much of it from Asia.

For the full year, Citigroup had a US$3.62 billion profit, down 83 per cent from 2006.

Citigroup said that the 41 per cent cut in the quarterly dividend to 32 US cents a share - along with the US$12.5 billion Asian investments and a stock offering of about US$2 billion - would help boost its Tier 1 capital ratio, a measure of its financial strength.

Yesterday’s announcements fall short of many shareholders’ wish for Citigroup to cut its 320,000-strong workforce and sell off some of its units, but newly named chief executive Vikram Pandit said that he would take ‘an objective and dispassionate review of all the businesses’ after taking the helm last month.

Mr Pandit, calling Citi’s fourth-quarter results ‘clearly unacceptable’, said in a statement that ‘in an uncertain environment, these actions put us on our ‘front foot’, focused on capturing opportunities that earn attractive returns for our shareholders’.

The fresh capital adds to the US$7.5 billion that Citi got in November from the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority in exchange for a 4.9 per cent stake in the company.

The moves were widely anticipated on Wall Street after months of scrutiny over the bank’s ratio of cash to debt. That ratio weakened when Citigroup lost money in mortgage-backed bond instruments called collateralised debt obligations and brought US$49 billion in haemorrhaging funds known as structured investment vehicles onto its books. — AP

Source : Business Times - 16 Jan 2008

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Siemens to open wind energy HQ as it turns 100-Singapore

Siemens to open wind energy HQ as it turns 100-Singapore
ELECTRONICS and electrical engineering giant Siemens yesterday said it will set up a regional sales headquarters in Singapore for wind energy. It is likely to be opened next month.
The headquarters, at the Siemens Centre in MacPherson Road, will not cater for the Singapore market, however, said Hans-Dieter Bott, country manager of Siemens Singapore.

‘The wind activities are limited here, so Singapore’s not the prime market. The prime markets are Australia and Korea, but to put a headquarters there would be too far from Europe, where Siemens has its core competencies and research and development centres,’ he said, adding that Singapore’s ‘excellent airport, easy access and a good labour force’ were the reasons it was chosen as the site for the headquarters.

Siemens will also set up a branch office for corporate technologies, which is its major research centre in Munich, said Mr Bott.

Mr Bott was speaking to the press prior to Siemens’ celebration of its 100th year in Singapore. The company first established a technical bureau here as a sales office of the London-based Siemens Brothers Dynamo Works in 1908.
Source : Business Times - 16 Jan 2008

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Retail sales dip as car purchases slump-Singapore

Retail sales dip as car purchases slump-Singapore

SINGAPORE’S retail sales unexpectedly declined in November as rising oil prices curbed purchases of motor vehicles.
The retail sales index dropped 0.3 per cent from a year earlier, after gaining 3.8 per cent in October, the statistics department said yesterday. That was below the median forecast of a 3.5 per cent increase in a Bloomberg survey of 11 economists.

Excluding vehicles, sales gained 11.8 per cent.

Oil prices breached US$100 a barrel this month, increasing fuel and transport costs for consumers. The Singapore government doesn’t subsidise pump prices, leading petrol companies to pass on the rising petrol and diesel costs to car owners.

‘Rising oil prices are a drag on vehicle sales globally, and Singapore is no exception,’ said David Cohen of Action Economics in Singapore, the only economist who predicted a decline. ‘It’s not something Singapore has to be concerned about because retail spending here remains strong.’ Adjusted for seasonal factors, retail sales in November fell 0.9 per cent from October. Excluding cars, the index gained 4.3 per cent, the government said.

Overall retail sales, on an unadjusted basis, fell 3.3 per cent in November from October, yesterday’s report said. Excluding cars, the index gained 1.1 per cent from the month before.

Vehicle sales in November dropped 21.9 per cent from a year ago. From the previous month, they fell 12.9 per cent.

Sales at petrol service stations rose 32.2 per cent in November, and declined 3.5 per cent from the month before.

Retailers such as Courts Singapore Ltd are reporting higher sales as consumers spend more amid rising incomes and confidence. Singapore’s jobless rate fell to a nine-and-a-half-year low in the third quarter as demand for goods and services prompted companies to boost hiring.

Courts reported a 22 per cent increase in revenue to S$91.1 million for the three months ended September.

Department store sales jumped 16.2 per cent in November from a year earlier, and rose 4.2 per cent from October.

Purchases of furniture and household equipment gained 6 per cent from a year earlier and 1.8 per cent from October. Apparel and footwear sales increased 12 per cent and those of watches and jewellery advanced 14.5 per cent from a year earlier. — Bloomberg

Source : Business Times - 16 Jan 2008

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