Temasek’s 2008 annual report wins various awards

Temasek’s 2008 annual report wins various awards

THE 2008 Temasek Review has clinched several regional and international public relations accolades for its design excellence and clarity.

The 2008 Temasek Review, for the year ended March 31 last year, summarises the investment agency’s portfolio of assets.

It was published in August last year and was designed by Addison Corporate Marketing, a London-based provider of corporate reporting services.

The investment agency made the decision to go public with the release of its first Temasek Review annual report in 2004.

The honours for the annual report came as early as last November, when it was named the financial communications campaign of the year at the Asia-Pacific PR Awards.

The judging panel for this competition included communications managers from Procter & Gamble, Nike China, Ford Motor Company and the heads of major public relations agencies.

In July, Temasek garnered a gold award in the financials capital markets category for annual reports at the Vision Awards organised by the League of American Communications Professionals.

Annual reports from 22 countries in five geographical regions were submitted for this competition.

The judges noted: ‘The level of design creativity exhibited in the report is excellent, which is supported by outstanding clarity in communicating this year’s key messages.’

Temasek’s winning streak continued last month, when it clinched honours at the International Business Awards in New York. It was named communications campaign of the year in the category for Asia (Subcontinent, Australia and New Zealand) and was among 14 finalists for the best annual report.

Created in 2003, these awards are an international, all-encompassing business competition governed by a board comprising leading figures in business and academia.

That same month, Temasek also clinched a bronze award for overall annual report in the investment house category at the International ARC Awards in New York. No gold or silver awards were presented in this category this year.

Organised by independent awards body MerComm, this is touted as the largest international competition honouring design excellence in annual reports, and draws entries from nearly 60 countries.

The investment agency also won in the financial services and investor relations’ category at the Golden World Awards for Excellence organised by the International Public Relations Association.

A total of 30 category winners were selected from 342 entries received from 42 countries.

The ceremony will be held on Oct 30 in London.

Source : Straits Times - 12 October 2009

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Funding for projects to boost local enterprises

Funding for projects to boost local enterprises

•What is Lead?

Lead stands for Local Enterprise and Association Development.

The programme is a multi-agency effort by Spring Singapore and International Enterprise (IE) Singapore to enhance industry and enterprise competitiveness.

It was introduced in 2005 to create a collaborative platform between Spring, IE Singapore and industry associations to help drive industry development to improve the overall capabilities of local enterprises in their respective industries.

The Government had initially set aside a kitty of $50 million in funding support through the scheme but that has since been beefed up to $70 million in view of the downturn.

•What does Lead support cover?

Lead funding support covers up to 80 per cent of each approved project introduced by industry associations.

It was also recently expanded to include the training of staff of those associations.

The development areas that associations propose include technology and infrastructure enhancements, expertise and managerial competence development, business collaboration, research and business advisory and consultancy.

•How to qualify for Lead?

Associations need to submit a proposal to Spring or IE Singapore.

The proposals should meet the following guidelines:

•Well-conceived industry road map and translation of this into projects for implementation

•Project contribution to the sector, such as potential revenue creation (local or overseas), value-added contribution to industry, job creation and number of benefiting SMEs

•Willingness to share project costs

•Development and creation of markets and business opportunities

•Development of industry competence

•Ability to extend the reach to more participating firms, including non-association members

•Implementation period should not exceed three years

Source : Straits Times - 12 October 2009

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Ho Bee sells 36 units of its Trilight condo

Ho Bee sells 36 units of its Trilight condo

Majority of buyers, mainly S’poreans, opt for the 2-bedroom units

By KALPANA RASHIWALA

HO Bee Investment has sold 36 of the 60 units it previewed last Friday at its Trilight condo at Newton Road. The 30-storey freehold development is priced at an average of $1,650 psf.

The Newton Road address: Two-bedders cost between $1.82 million and $2.2 million, the three-bedroom units are priced at $3.5-3.65 million and four-bedders at around $4 million each
The apartments released cost around $2-4 million per unit and Ho Bee did not offer interest absorption scheme, which was scrapped under the Sept 14 measures announced by the government to cool the private residential property market.

Ho Bee executive director Ong Chong Hua described the outcome as ‘reasonable’.

‘We really could not ask for more, (with our preview) coming after the cooling measures,’ he added.

‘We’ve sold 36 units, but there are many others who are interested and checking on their financials,’ Mr Ong said.

‘This is not a normal shoebox apartment development,’ he quipped, referring to the fact that Trilight does not have anything smaller than two-bedroom units, and even these are generously sized at between 1,109 sq ft and 1,227 sq ft.

The flipside of this strategy of having decent-sized units is that the lumpsum price per apartment is sizeable. The cheapest two-bedder at Trilight costs $1.82 million. It is on the development’s fifth floor (the lowest level in the 30-storey condo).

Reflecting the fact that affordability remains an issue with buyers, the majority of Trilight’s buyers picked up two-bedroom apartments. Twenty-six of the 32 two-bedders Ho Bee offered were taken up, along with eight of the 21 three-bedders and two of the seven four-bedroom apartments on offer.

While two-bedders cost between $1.82 million and $2.2 million, the three-bedroom units are priced at $3.5-3.65 million and four-bedders at around $4 million each.

Trilight’s buyers were predominantly Singaporeans. Only three of the 36 units sold were bought by Singapore permanent residents.

There was even a US tourist couple visiting Singapore that picked up a unit.

As for the Singaporean buyers, Mr Ong said: ‘They have private addresses, are generally over 40 years old, and discerning; they know what they want. They like the location - its proximity to Newton Hawker Centre and the MRT station.’

Trilight, a 205-unit development, comprises two-, three- and four-bedroom apartments and three penthouses.

The 60 units Ho Bee previewed last week did not include penthouses. Each unit in the development has a private lift.

The project is being marketed by CB Richard Ellis and DTZ.

Ho Bee is developing Trilight on the former Elmira Heights site, at the highest point in the Newton area.

Source : Business Times - 12 October 2009

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Foreign fund flows into Asia slowing

Foreign fund flows into Asia slowing

Markets risk sharp correction in coming weeks: Credit Suisse

By NEIL BEHRMANN
IN LONDON

THE surge of foreign fund inflows into Asian equities is beginning to abate.

Asian markets are beginning to look pricey. The liquid developed market indices offer comparable if not better value than Asian markets.

Data from EPFR Global shows that inflows into Asia excluding Japan peaked around US$14 billion at the beginning of September and has remained around that level since then.

The statistics are significant as EPFR tracks fund flows and asset allocation of traditional and hedge funds controlling some US$10 trillion in total assets.

There were outflows in March this year and from that point onwards inflows climbed to US$5 billion in May to US$11 billion in June, settled around that level in the first half of July and then took off again to the 2009 peak of around US$14 billion.

The caution of foreign investors isn’t surprising considering that the MSCI index of Asia ex Japan has soared by 62.7 per cent since the beginning of the year, turning the three year return for the regional equities from negative to annualised positive of 5.9 per cent and five years, 11.6 per cent.

Year to date inflows of US$14 billion compare with an outflow of US$19.6 billion in 2008 and are not far below the 2007 boom year inflows of US$16.8 billion.

The big question is where Asian markets go from here.

Bob Parker, vice-chairman of asset management for Credit Suisse, who was bullish on global equities in the first quarter, is expecting a sharp correction in coming weeks.

He expects developed markets to fall by around 10 per cent, but warns that the more volatile and illiquid emerging markets, including Asia could decline by 20 to 25 per cent.

Credit Suisse’s risk models show that investor positions are now looking very overextended, he warns.

Mr Parker, however, expects the correction to be short lived and that equity markets, especially Asia will rebound in 2010.

He is thus advising his clients to take money off the table at current heights and use any correction as a buying opportunity. Several other US and European asset managers have similar views but admit that the extent of the market revival in all equity markets has taken them by surprise.

There were warnings in June, but after a small pullback, markets boomed again from mid July onwards and expectations of a correction in September also proved to be wrong.

Brad Durham, managing director of EPFR notes that there is still some US$4 trillion in low yielding money market funds. Investors who were fearful of placing money in equities are now feeling frustrated and for this reason, money shifts into developed and emerging market funds and then equities, whenever prices dip.

ThomsonReuters statistics show that the broader indices of Asian markets are beginning to look pricey. The much more transparent liquid developed market indices offer comparable if not better value than Asian markets.

The S&P 500 Index is on a price earnings (PE) ratio of 17 and dividend yield of 2.9 per cent; UK 12 PE and dividend yield, 3.4 per cent; Germany PE 24 and dividend yield of 3.2 per cent and France, 19 PE and dividend yield of 3.8 per cent.

Asia is expected to deliver better growth, but much is already priced into their equities with China on a PE of 18 and dividend yield of 2.5 per cent; Hong Kong, PE of 20 and dividend yield of 2.7 per cent and Singapore, PE of 18 and dividend yield of 3.1 per cent.

There have been outflows of US$4.5 billion from Japan equity funds this year following outflows of US$8.7 billion in 2008 and outflows of US$17.4 billion in 2007. That market, however, also rallied sharply this year, so that the PE is 30 and dividend yield, 2.2 per cent.

The ratios and dividend yields illustrate that investors need to be highly selective in choosing stocks at these levels and even they could weaken in a general downtrend.

Source : Business Times - 12 October 2009

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Analysts going for the big picture in Q3 earnings

Analysts going for the big picture in Q3 earnings

By JAMIE LEE

(SINGAPORE) Third-quarter earningscould signal the upswing of the pendulum, as analysts scour for signs that recovery in corporate Singapore is on its way.

But the bounce in earnings this time is not expected to beat the sharp recovery following the 1998 Asian financial crisis, analysts note.

‘It’s more about the general impression than the absolute numbers,’ said Chan Tuck Sing, dealing director at UOB Kay Hian.

‘People would be looking for some evidence that corporate performance has bottomed out and has shown some improvement,’ he added. ‘If a company reports earnings that are down on a year-on-year basis, that’s no big surprise. But if they report that things are looking better, orders are coming in, then that will be perceived positively.’

Chua Hak Bin, head of Singapore research at Citi, expects a V-shaped earnings recovery in the coming quarters, mirroring the economic recovery.

He expects recovery in earnings per share (EPS) to sit between the 178 per cent jump in EPS in the 12 months from the trough in the 1998 Asian financial crisis, and the 57 per cent growth in 2001 following the dotcom recession.

‘The earnings recovery from this recession will likely be strong, beating consensus expectations, but may not be as sharp and quick as the 1998 episode,’ he said. ‘Export recovery is weak and the property price recovery at the high end has been more modest.’

Banks will be reporting earnings on the back of a growth in bank lending to businesses in August over July, after nine straight months of declines.

Total consumer loans continued to grow in August, thanks to the surge in housing loans.

But while mortgage loans are expected to pick up pace next year, growth in system loans - or total loan excluding inter-bank lending - is not expected to be significantly stronger, said Kenneth Ng, head of research at CIMB-GK Securities, in a client note.

‘The best part of Singapore’s loan growth spurt is over,’ said Mr Ng. ‘In an inflation-controlled environment, we expect lower margins for all three banks as a new batch of foreign competitors emerge.’

Though Morgan Stanley analysts are positive about Singapore banks’ ‘rock-solid credits’, they caution that the banks’ loan portfolios are highly geared towards property-related sectors, which make up 41 per cent of total loans.

‘Much of the concern relates to the significant property supply over the coming years,’ said analysts Desmond Lim and Viktor Hjort in a recent report.

But they added that losses will become material only if property prices fall at least 30 per cent between now and the end of next year.

OCBC was the most aggressive in terms of property loans with a more-than-double growth in building and construction loans between 2005 and 2008, said the Morgan Stanley analysts. UOB was the most conservative in this area, given that much of its loans growth originated from lower- risk housing loans, they added.

Meanwhile, CIMB-GK’s Mr Ng has recommended that investors switch to property stocks from banks, as the property sector could benefit from the influx of foreigners as well as hopes that interest rates will remain depressed.

He also noted that the conditions now are more akin to the situation in 2003/2004, when bank and property stocks were first aligned but the latter moved on to outperform in the following few years.

As for real estate investment trusts (Reits), hospitality plays such as CDL Hospitality Trusts and Ascott Residence Trust could show some growth this quarter, DBS Vickers Securities analyst Derek Tan told BT.

‘The tourism statistics are showing some signs of life and improvement. Retail Reits should also show some better-than-expected resilience,’ added Mr Tan.

For the manufacturing sector - including technology companies - sales numbers posted in the third quarter could indicate that real demand, rather than inventory restocking, is now in place, noted UOB Kay Hian’s Mr Chan

Source : Business Times - 12 October 2009

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