Singapore City View @ Boon Keng oversubscribed five times

Singapore City View @ Boon Keng oversubscribed five times

By Valarie Tan

SINGAPORE: The latest series of public housing designed and built by a private developer has been oversubscribed five times.

City View @ Boon Keng received over 3,500 applications in all, when submissions closed at midnight on Wednesday.

714 apartments were put up for sale by developer Hoi Hup. They were going at $520 per square foot.

All applications submitted will now be put through a ballot. Only 1,400 applicants will be successful and they are expected to be notified next month.

City View@Boon Keng is the second project under the Design, Build and Sell Scheme by the Housing Development Board.

The first project at Tampines was oversubscribed by 10 times. - CNA/ir
Source : Channel NewsAsia - 18 Jan 2008

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Applications for over half of Singapore HDB surplus flats on first day of launch

Applications for over half of Singapore HDB surplus flats on first day of launch

By Wong Mun Wai

SINGAPORE: The Housing and Development Board on Thursday launched the sale of more than 1,000 surplus flats available from the Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme (SERS) under the Balloting Exercise.

By 5pm, applications were received for more than half of the number available.

676 applications were submitted for 1,098 surplus units in Bedok, Clementi, Queenstown and Jurong West.

Their prices range between $282,000 and $335,000 for a four-room flat in Bedok and between $310,000 and $400,000 for a four-room flat in Queenstown.

The units comprise 234 studio apartments in Queenstown and Jurong West, 164 units of three-room flats, 516 units of four-room and 184 units of five-room flats in Bedok, Clementi and Queenstown.

Interested buyers have until 6 February to submit their applications. - CNA/ir
Source : Channel NewsAsia - 18 Jan 2008

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S’pore top 1,000 companies hit S$1.29 trillion mark in 2007

S’pore top 1,000 companies hit S$1.29 trillion mark in 2007

By Rachel Kelly

SINGAPORE: It’s another year of record sales for Singapore’s top 1,000 companies - which hit S$1.29 trillion in 2007, according to the latest numbers released by DP Information Group.

DP also surveyed the revenue, profitability and return on equity of the top 500 SMEs in Singapore.

But more than just posting another year of record sales, DP said they are also among the best managed in the world.

About 63 per cent received the prestigious Investment Grade Credit Rating of DP 1-4, up from 52 per cent in 2006.

Chen Yew Nah, Managing Director of DP Information Group, said: “I think we saw that when we were picking up organisations within the credit ratings, we saw that the property sector did really well. In fact, 80 over per cent of them were ranked the investment rating of DP1 to DP4.”

“So these people have done well because (in) the last few years we have seen the property boom. And property sectors, therefore, have come in quite significantly in the top Singapore 1,000 rankings.”

All in, Singapore’s top 1,000 companies booked an 11.8 per cent jump in combined revenue in 2007, springing away from the S$1 trillion mark it hit in 2006. Combined profits also shot up by 20.7 per cent.

Energy-related companies took the top five spots in terms of sales, with Shell Eastern Trading holding on to its pole position. The others in the top five were BP Singapore, Vitol Asia, SK Energy Asia and GS Caltex Singapore.

Among the SME 500, sales saw a steady increase of 3.4 per cent to S$13.9 billion, while profits grew by 4.9 per cent. 34 SMEs managed to break into the S1000 list.

Mr Chen said: “I think there are a lot of assistance programmes from our government agencies and SMEs themselves (are) aspiring. And this region is a good opportunity for them to grow.”

Welding specialist Romar Positioning Equipment received an award for a promising SME after crossing the S$50 million turnover mark. - CNA/vm
Source : Channel NewsAsia - 18 Jan 2008

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CGG Veritas opens S$55m regional HQ in S’pore

CGG Veritas opens S$55m regional HQ in S’pore

SINGAPORE: CGG Veritas, a provider of geophysical services and equipment, has opened a S$55 million regional headquarters in Singapore.

The purpose-built facility at Serangoon North will be the firm’s Asia-Pacific headquarters and will employ some 220 people.

It will house the group’s data processing and imaging hub, which has been described as the largest and most powerful computer facility in Singapore.

From Singapore, large volumes of seismic data will be processed around the clock to support exploration and production projects in the region.

There’s also a sophisticated visualisation centre that can translate processed seismic data into graphic 3D representations of the Earth’s sub-surface.

Companies that will use such data include global oil and gas firms. - 938 Live/vm
Source : Channel NewsAsia - 18 Jan 2008

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Analysts confident of S’pore fundamentals despite market volatility

Analysts confident of S’pore fundamentals despite market volatility

By Ng Baoying

SINGAPORE: Despite the current volatility in the markets, analysts said they remain confident about Singapore’s fundamentals.

They blame the jitters on persistent bad news coming out of the US instead.

According to some market-watchers, it’s time to pick up bargains and re-assess the portfolio, with the STI just above 3,000 points.

Analysts said that attention should be channelled to the construction and banking-related stocks and added that now is a good time to re-evaluate your portfolio as the market sobers up to the reality of the US economy in recession.

Gabriel Yap, Senior Dealing Director of DMG & Partners, said: “The nature of selling in the last couple of days has been indiscriminate. So essentially when these things do happen, it’s time for you to re-juggle your portfolio and re-position your positions in those sectors you think you like.”

Market-watchers said that the recent sell-down opens up plenty of opportunities for bargain-hunting.

Wong Sui Jau, General Manager of Fundsupermart.com, said: “For me as an investor, I’d say now is a good time to accumulate bargains. Certainly a lot of investors won’t agree (to) that, saying why not wait until its over. But it’s extremely hard to get the exact bottom of the market.”

And Fundsupermart.com has some interesting figures to back up its stand.

Mr Wong continued: “The STI index was up around 16.6 per cent in 2007. If you take away the 10 best performing days in the 260 trading days, then your 16.6 per cent gains for the whole year will be reduced to a negative 14 per cent loss.”

“So it is important to capture a lot of the gains. And these gains happen after a sell-down. That’s when the largest gains are,” said Mr Wong.

Analysts added that Wednesday’s sharp slide was mainly sentiment-driven, due to the slew of bad news from the US. Overall, they said that Singapore’s fundamentals still remain strong.

“What we saw yesterday was not unexpected. When major supports are being broken, essentially all markets will go all the way down to test the next support,” said Mr Yap.

With the outlook for the US economy still cloudy, market-watchers said they expect to see volatility for at least another two to six months. - CNA/vm

Source : Channel NewsAsia - 18 Jan 2008

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A-REIT reports record occupancy rate for tenanted properties - Singapore

A-REIT reports record occupancy rate for tenanted properties - Singapore
SINGAPORE: Ascendas Real Estate Investment Trust (A-REIT) has reported record occupancy for its tenanted properties.

Its overall portfolio occupancy rate increased to a record high of 98.7 percent as at 31 December, compared to 96.1 percent a year ago.

The occupancy rate for A-REIT’s multi-tenanted buildings also rose to 97 percent in the quarter ended December, compared with 96.2 percent in the previous three months.

This is mainly due to the continued healthy demand for business space in the business & science parks and hi-tech industrial sectors.

A-REIT secured leases for a total net lettable area of 46,933 square metres in the three months to December. The space leased out has brought in an annualised rental income of S$11.1 million.

Looking ahead, A-REIT said demand for industrial space is likely to remain healthy, particularly for the business parks and hi-tech industrial sectors, due to the tight supply in office space in the central business district and the fact that a number of multinational companies is setting up facilities in Singapore.

A-REIT said the anticipated high supply of 702,000 square metres in the logistics and distribution centres sector for the next two years is expected to dampen rental rate.

The Trust’s portfolio comprises 51 percent multi-tenanted buildings and 49 percent sale-and-leaseback properties based on portfolio value.
- CNA/so

Source : Channel NewsAsia - 18 Jan 2008

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