Al-Futtaim raises offer for Singapore Robinson to $7 a share

Al-Futtaim raises offer for Singapore Robinson to $7 a share

Move follows rise in retailer’s stock in open market
By MICHELLE QUAH

(SINGAPORE) The Al-Futtaim Group has upped its bid for Robinson & Co to $7 a share, from $6.25 previously - undoubtedly pressured by the high levels at which the retailer’s shares have been trading in the open market.

The Dubai-based group announced yesterday that it had revised its voluntary conditional cash offer for Robinson’s shares and that it has, since it first bid for the retailer in January, obtained acceptances of its offer which represent 26.69 per cent of Robinson.

Its revised offer will close on April 3.

And, already, some Robinson shareholders have cheered the move. Aberdeen Asset Management, which owns 9 per cent of Robinson, said it was ‘delighted’ with the revised bid. Its managing director Hugh Young told BT: ‘We were happy with the original price so, by definition, are happy with a higher one and wish Al-Futtaim every success.’

Aberdeen - along with other substantial shareholders Tecity and Silchester International Investors - has given an irrevocable undertaking to accept Al-Futtaim’s offer, should it become unconditional.

Tecity, Aberdeen and Silchester jointly own 23.18 per cent of Robinson.

Tecity and Silchester did not comment on the revised offer.

Al-Futtaim’s move now begs the question of whether there will be a counter offer for Robinson from the retailer’s largest shareholder, the Lippo Group.

The Indonesian group owns 29.99 per cent of Robinson, having recently increased its stake from 29.9 per cent - a move which many interpreted as an attempt to protect its shareholding. The Lippo Group has, however, not yet taken a stab at countering Al-Futtaim’s bid - partly because it hasn’t had to, with Robinson’s share price climbing above Al-Futtaim’s offer price.

There is also speculation as to whether Lippo will choose to sell its stake to Al-Futtaim, with the revised offer. Sceptics believe the possibility is slim, with Lippo having paid OCBC Bank and Great Eastern Holdings about $7.90 a share for its Robinson stake in 2006.

Lippo’s deputy chairman and Robinson director Stephen Riady could not be contacted for comment yesterday.

Al-Futtaim’s original offer - which, like its revised bid, would become unconditional only upon it receiving acceptances amounting to more than 50 per cent of the company - had been in danger of not succeeding, thanks to the buoyant performance of Robinson’s shares.

The retailer’s stock has been trading at an average of $6.63 since Jan 21 - the first trading day after Al-Futtaim made its original offer of $6.25 a share.

The counter last traded at $6.88 yesterday before trading was halted.

Al-Futtaim decided on March 3 to extend its offer for another month - to April 3 - in the hope that the added time would be enough for it to win over more shareholders, despite its offer being the only one on the table.

Analysts had commented that investors were clearly hoping for a better offer to be made; and BT remarked last month that Al-Futtaim would need to up its bid if it hoped to succeed in its takeover of Robinson, given the retailer’s share price performance.

Robinson’s stock has, however, come off its highs in recent days - due to the current bleak market sentiment. And it’s a situation Al-Futtaim is clearly hoping to exploit.

James Gillespie McCallum, director of ALF Global - a unit of Al-Futtaim - said: ‘We believe this revision represents a full price for the business and a compelling opportunity for shareholders to realise value.’

ALF Global, which is making the offer on behalf of its parent, said yesterday that its revised bid of $7 a share represents a 60.6 per cent premium over Robinson’s theoretical last traded share price of $4.36, before the original offer was made - i.e. its last traded price of $4.46 on Jan 18, minus Robinson’s interim dividend of $0.10 a share, announced in February.
Source : Business Times  - 18 March 2008

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Only one Singapore collective sale done so far this year

Only one Singapore collective sale done so far this year 

This is a marked fall from about 25 done in the same period last year

By Joyce Teo, Property Correspondent 
GOING EN BLOC: Pastoral View got 80 per cent owner approval before last October’s rule change but had waited for One Akyab to join the sale so as to offer a bigger site. 
 
SOME residential estates are still pushing for a collective sale but they face a tough market in which such transactions have almost completely dried up.
Just one small deal has been sealed so far this year, dramatically down from about 25 in the same period last year, property consultants said.

The sole deal was Link (THM) Holdings buying freehold Ban Guan Park in Holland Road for $31.1 million earlier this year, with plans to build landed homes.

The escalating United States sub-prime mortgage crisis and a jittery stock market have caused many property players to scurry to the sidelines.

In the months ahead, there will be very few, if any, collective sale launches and deals, said property consultants.

They are in no hurry to launch, given that developers have built up ample land banks for now and sales are slow.
CB Richard Ellis’ (CBRE’s) executive director of investment properties, Mr Jeremy Lake, said the firm is working on two to three projects but has nothing planned for the collective sale market in the first half.

After that, it will ‘play it by ear’, he said. ‘To a large extent, the market has ground to a halt.’ He added that the firm has declined to take on some very large collective sale sites.

Credo Real Estate managing director Karamjit Singh said the firm has plans to relaunch one or two collective sale sites at lower prices in the second quarter. If owners are not prepared to lower their prices, the firm is advising them to wait for the market to recover.

Some estates continue to work towards a sale, with the intention of going to market towards the end of the year, property consultants said.

Chiltern Park’s sale committee is asking owners to each contribute $200 towards a fund to facilitate a collective sale.

Some others just want to go to market when they are ready.

‘A lot of owners fail to understand the market has turned severely,’ said an industry source. ‘When your estate is not in the price range developers are excited about, it defeats the purpose of marketing it.’

Yesterday, Pastoral View near Novena MRT Station was put up for collective sale at a guide price of $95 million - slightly under $1,000 per sq ft.

The 52-unit freehold development obtained the minimum 80 per cent approval from owners before rules were amended last October. They had waited, unsuccessfully, for the 18-unit One Akyab next door to join the sale, so that they could offer a bigger site.

‘The market is slow but two overseas developers have expressed interest in the site,’ said the head of investment sales at marketing agent Newman & Goh, Mr Jeffrey Goh.

In a report yesterday, CBRE said Singapore’s investment property sales market was ’surprisingly active’ so far this year, with $5.91 billion deals registered, despite the uncertain global economy. Public land sales, such as the $1.25 billion sale of a hospital site in Novena, made up the bulk of investment sales to date.

Investment activity in the residential sector slowed considerably in the first quarter this year, contributing $2.23 billion to date in transacted value. This includes good-class bungalow sales and forms 38 per cent of total investment sales.

‘Developers are no longer as keen to acquire more sites compared to last year, as most of them have built a relatively strong inventory of freehold residential sites from the robust collective sales market in 2007,’ said the CBRE report.

The release of more affordable 99-year leasehold sites by the Government may sway some buying interest away from private prime freehold residential sites, it added. ‘The investment sales market is likely to see a challenging year in 2008.’

 Slowing down
QUIET OUTLOOK

THE escalating United States sub-prime mortgage crisis and a jittery stock market have caused many property players to scurry to the sidelines.

In the months ahead, there will be very few, if any, collective sale launches and deals, say property consultants.

They are in no hurry to launch, given that developers have built up ample land banks for now and sales are slow.

SOLE DEAL

Just one deal has been sealed so far this year: Link (THM) Holdings bought freehold Ban Guan Park in Holland Road for $31.1 million earlier this year, with plans to build landed homes.

UP FOR GRABS

Yesterday, the 52-unit freehold Pastoral View near Novena MRT Station was put up for collective sale at a guide price of $95 million - slightly less than $1,000 per sq ft.

Source : Straits Times  - 18 March 2008

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Madrasah pupils to get $300 grant -Singapore

Madrasah pupils to get $300 grant  -Singapore

By Keith Lin 
 
PUPILS in Primary 5 and 6 in Islamic schools, or madrasahs, will each receive a $300 education grant to help them prepare for the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE).
They can use the money from the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis) to pay for enrichment classes and remedial lessons in such PSLE subjects as English, Science and Mathematics.

The grants come from the $700,000 that Muis has set aside for all six madrasahs here, as the PSLE becomes compulsory for their pupils for the first time this year.

The amount will also be used to pay for training courses for madrasah teachers and a mentoring scheme that offers them guidance from experienced teachers in national schools.

The madrasahs are considered private schools, and their students are not eligible for Edusave accounts held by their counterparts in national schools.

Yesterday, Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Yaacob Ibrahim handed cheques to each of the six madrasahs.

Speaking to reporters after the event, he said:’We cannot ignore the fact that secular schools, for example, will spend a lot of money bringing in consultants from outside, and having enrichment programmes for the kids to prepare for the PSLE.’

Students admitted to madrasahs, after compulsory education took effect in 2003, have to sit for the PSLE.

The madrasahs have to ensure that the average score of their PSLE pupils matches those of Malay pupils in national schools.

If not, they risk losing pupils to a mainstream school or another madrasah that meets the mark.

Much of the funding for madrasahs has come from Muis which, since 2003, has spent $2.3 million in training their staff and developing enrichment programmes for their pupils.

Madam Sri Sukastri Mohd Hanapi, who teaches mathematics and information technology at the Al-Maarif Madrasah, hopes to have more enrichment classes for her PSLE-bound pupils.

‘This way, even though I have less curriculum time to teach them the PSLE subjects, they will not be at a disadvantage when compared with students from national schools,’ she said.
Source : Straits Times  - 18 March 2008

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New home sales nosedive in Feb - Singapore

New home sales nosedive in Feb  - Singapore

Only 185 out of 343 units sold, down from 328 in January, but prices are holding steady

By Fiona Chan, Property Reporter 

SALES of new homes slowed almost to a standstill last month, delivering another blow to the already-weak housing market here.

Property developers yesterday said they sold only 185 new units in February, about half of the 343 they launched in the month and well down from the 328 sold in January.

This anaemic performance, coupled with the continuing quietness of the market this month, prompted some experts to predict that new home sales this quarter could hit one of the lowest levels ever seen here.

‘The current weak market sentiment is likely to stay, which means that the total number of new homes sold in the quarter may be 700 to 800 units,’ said Mr Li Hiaw Ho, executive director of CB Richard Ellis Research.

He said this could be worse than during the Asian financial crisis, when just 894 new units were sold in 1997’s last quarter. Only Sars in 2003 saw fewer new homes sold: 427.

In contrast, developers sold 14,811 new homes in the exuberant boom last year, or an average of 3,700 homes each quarter.

Property consultants say they were not surprised by last month’s feeble numbers, given the Chinese New Year holiday and the snowballing global financial crisis originating from the United States.

But even as some admitted the contraction was ‘worse than expected’, they stressed the silver lining: home prices are still holding steady.

At Hong Leong Holdings’ Aalto in Jalan Kechil, two units were sold for a median price of $2,619 per sq ft (psf), up from the median $2,078 psf fetched by three units in January.

‘There are strong fundamentals to support home prices,’ said Mr Chua Yang Liang, Jones Lang LaSalle’s head of South-east Asia research.

‘En bloc sellers have to look for housing and they are cash-rich. We still believe in the ‘remaking Singapore’ story and with more foreigners coming in, property prices are likely to hold in the coming months.’

But market confidence will ‘remain shaky’ until the extent of the US recession can be measured, said Ms Tay Huey Ying, director of research and consultancy at Colliers International. She expects market activity to remain lacklustre until June.

At some projects, prices have started to dip slightly. At Ritz-Carlton Residences in Cairnhill, only one unit was sold last month at $4,140 psf. None was sold in January, but five were taken up in December for between $5,053 and $5,146 psf.

The best performer last month was the Cosmo condominium in Guillemard Crescent, where 41 out of 45 units were sold, mostly within the first week of its launch, for between $1,048 psf and $1,152 psf.

Source : Straits Times  - 18 March 2008

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Tibetan protesters ignore ultimatum - BEIJING

Tibetan protesters ignore ultimatum  - BEIJING

Rioters and troops headed for violent showdown as deadline to surrender passes

By Chua Chin Hon, China Bureau Chief 
IN NEPAL: A policeman chasing a Tibetan refugee monk who was demonstrating in front of the UN office in Kathmandu yesterday over the crackdown in Tibet. — PHOTO: REUTERS
 
 
BEIJING - A WEEK-LONG confrontation between Tibetan rioters and Chinese security forces appeared headed for a potentially violent showdown after protesters ignored a government ultimatum to turn themselves in by midnight yesterday.
As the deadline loomed, Beijing refused to say if anyone had surrendered, or what new measures it would take.

Chinese officials insisted, however, that the government had not declared martial law or imposed a curfew in Lhasa, the remote Tibetan capital city in western China.

Lhasa was rocked by its worst anti-government protests in two decades last Friday, with rioting monks and residents smashing and setting fire to shops and buildings. The Chinese government said at least 13 were killed, but rights groups said the death toll was several times higher.

Beijing has so far defied expectations that it would launch a severe crackdown. Instead it issued an ultimatum on Saturday telling protesters to turn themselves in by midnight yesterday.

Those who did so would be shown leniency, while those who did not would be dealt with ’severely’, the order said.

‘The purpose was to destroy everything on that main street, beginning with all the Chinese stores and restaurants.’
SPANISH TOURIST JUAN CARLOS ALONSO, who witnessed angry Tibetans on the rampage last Friday
There were no signs, however, that the protesters were heeding the ultimatum.

Three other provinces with large Tibetan populations - Sichuan, Qinghai, and Gansu - witnessed anti-government protests and clashes even after the ultimatum was issued.

Beijing, meanwhile, has amassed a huge security force in Lhasa, prompting speculation it would lock down the city and arrest suspected troublemakers once the deadline lapsed.

A Times online report said Chinese troops drove through the streets of Lhasa yesterday parading Tibetans in handcuffs, their heads bowed, as troops stepped up their hunt for the rioters in house-to-house searches.

Witnesses said there were about 40 people, mostly young Tibetan men and women, standing with their wrists handcuffed behind their backs.

‘A soldier stood behind each prisoner, a hand on the back of their neck to ensure their heads were bowed,’ the report said.

Amid the prospect of an escalation in the confrontation, Beijing and Tibetan activists stepped up their war of words over the ‘truth’ of what happened in Lhasa last week.

At a hastily called press conference in Beijing earlier yesterday, Tibet governor Qiangba Puncog said the Lhasa protests were orchestrated by followers of the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, in order to wreck the upcoming Olympics.

He denied reports and claims that police had fired on the protesters, insisting that security forces acted with great restraint.

But Tibetan activists said the police had killed as many as 100 protesters, while many eyewitness accounts reported gun shots going off in Lhasa.

Foreign journalists have not been able to independently verify the conflicting accounts following Beijing’s declaration of a travel ban to Tibet. Foreigners require a permit to enter Tibet, and the majority of those who remained in Lhasa after the clashes began have been told to leave.

Defending the decision, Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said the travel ban was for the journalists’ own safety.

Even as foreign governments like the US urged China to open talks with the Dalai Lama, many countries said they were opposed to a boycott of the Beijing Olympics in August.

Singapore International Olympic Committee chief Ng Ser Miang said that sports and politics should be kept separate.
 
Source : Straits Times  - 18 March 2008

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Rule eased to let cabs stop on Singapore CBD side roads

Rule eased to let cabs stop on Singapore CBD side roads 

LTA FINE-TUNING

10 more taxi stands to be built, with more to be sheltered

More signs and maps to help commuters find the stops
 
By Yeo Ghim Lay & April Chong 

THE rule requiring cabs to stop only at taxi stands in the Central Business District (CBD) has been relaxed, following a barrage of complaints from cabbies, passengers and businesses in the city.
The change, which took effect yesterday, allows taxis to pick up and drop off passengers on all side roads which are not served by public buses, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said.

On roads that buses ply, taxis will still be restricted to stopping only at taxi stands and driveways. But as part of its ‘fine-tuning’, LTA said 10 more taxi stands will be built, to bring the total to 115, and more will be sheltered, over the next two to three months.

More signs will go up at the end of the month to make it easier to find a taxi stand. Location maps identifying the stops will also be available at hotels and commercial buildings.

The changes have to do with the rule introduced by the LTA on March 1 in an effort to increase safety for all road users. The intention was to stop taxis from swerving across lanes or making sudden stops to pick up passengers in the CBD.

But for some, especially elderly and disabled passengers, the inconvenience was too high a price.

Restaurants and hotels with no driveways and in areas away from taxi stands also saw patrons and tourists avoiding them.

Having taken in all the feedback, LTA chief executive Yam Ah Mee said yesterday that the changes made balance safety concerns with the need to minimise inconvenience.

Asked if LTA should have anticipated the problem, Transport Minister Raymond Lim said: ‘We need to look at this issue in context. LTA’s principal consideration in imposing this rule is safety, and this remains a key concern.’

But he added: ‘Some of the practical issues raised since the rule took effect on March 1 were valid, and once LTA was satisfied that the risk to safety was acceptable, it decided to act to make adjustments sooner rather than later.’

Welcoming the changes were people living and working in the side roads in areas like Chinatown, Bugis and Club Street.

Mr Nicholas Ng, 30, who lives in Smith Street, off New Bridge Road, said the rule is ‘now more reasonable’ as his wife - who has just given birth - and his elderly grandmother would have had to cross an overhead bridge to take a cab at People’s Park Centre.

There was immediate relief at Club Street. Mr John Kua, the manager of Seven On Club restaurant said his customers found it easier to get a cab there yesterday.

But safety still remains the top priority. LTA’s Mr Yam said that taxi drivers have till May 1 to adjust to the new rules, before they face fines of up to $100 and three demerit points.

As of last Saturday, 469 drivers had been warned.

With 80 per cent of the problems he faced in the CBD solved with the rule change, Mr Pang Desapro, 32, a Comfort cabby for almost three years, said: ‘It’s now much easier to drop off passengers at shophouses in the Duxton and Tanjong Pagar areas.’
Source : Straits Times  - 18 March 2008

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Markets and US dollar slump on banking fears -New York

Markets and US dollar slump on banking fears  -New York

Panic strikes as Fed takes emergency measures not seen since Great Depression

By Bryan Lee, Economics Correspondent 
 
FEAR gripped financial markets yesterday as Asia and Europe absorbed a double whammy of devastating news.
The near collapse of Wall Street financial giant Bear Stearns stunned investors along with the unveiling of emergency measures by the US Federal Reserve not seen since the Great Depression.

Global stocks and the already weakened US dollar went into a tailspin as investors ran for cover to buy commodities such as gold and oil, which set new record prices.

Shares in India, Hong Kong and Japan were hit hardest. In Singapore, the benchmark Straits Times Index suffered an initial 93-point plunge before recovering to close at 2,792.75, down 46 points from last Friday.

Selling continued when the US and European markets reopened yesterday, with London’s Footsie closing 3.9 per cent lower. In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average swung between gains and losses. At 1am Singapore time after 31/2 hours of trading, the Dow stood at 11,862.11, down 88.98 points or 0.7 per cent.

Market watchers said the plunge could have been worse if not for expectations the Fed will slash a key interest rate this week by a massive 1 percentage point to 2 per cent.

Investors were spooked by the fire sale of Bear Stearns, the No.5 US investment bank, which is being bought by rival JPMorgan Chase & Co for US$236 million (S$326 million), a mere fraction of its stock market value last Friday of US$3.5 billion.

The shockingly low-priced deal for a highly respected institution sparked fresh rumours that more Wall Street big names such as Lehman Brothers might be on the guillotine next.

Frantic weekend talks in New York and Washington yielded a broad range of measures to keep cash-strapped Wall Street companies afloat.

These came as recent attempts to calm turmoil arising from a global credit crunch have failed to pacify investors and lenders, threatening to send the US and the world economy into a deep slump.

Among the latest drastic measures, the Fed will provide emergency funds to a wider array of financial institutions, acting as a ‘lender of last resort’ to major investment banks that are classified as primary dealers.

This is the first time since the 1930s the Fed has extended lending beyond regulated deposit-taking banks to securities firms, Reuters reported.

The Fed also cut the interest rate for such loans to 3.25 per cent, from 3.5 per cent.

The central bank was instrumental in the Bear Stearns deal, giving JPMorgan a US$30 billion guarantee for the troubled bank’s most illiquid assets.

The Fed pushed for the rescue deal as a total collapse of Bear Stearns, with its intricate links to other Wall Street companies, would have sparked a severe crisis of confidence in the financial system.

The bank, one of the most aggressive players in the US sub-prime mortgage business, found itself on the brink of bankruptcy late last week when trading partners pulled assets and credit lines from it.

At the White House, President George Bush yesterday sought to reassure investors, saying he was prepared to act ‘decisively’ if needed.

The Fed moves helped to calm investors a little.

Mr Tim Condon, Asia research head at ING Bank, told Bloomberg News: ‘The Fed’s moves over the weekend certainly aren’t enough, and it hasn’t prevented panic selling today in Asia. But if the Fed didn’t do anything, there would have been a bloodbath in the markets.’

Source : Straits Times  - 18 March 2008

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