DAILY MARKET UPDATES 25th September 2008

Property Players to Showcase Luxury Homes
Knight Frank, which plans a property circuit on Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings, offering complimentary tours - with pick-ups thrown in - of four high- end developments. The projects are Nassim Park Residences, Boulevard Vue, St Regis Residences and Viva. Visitors will also be taken on a general tour of Sentosa Cove. Tours will start at 9am and take about two hours. Knight Frank agents will try to give visitors an idea of what the high-end property market here is like and also 'sell Singapore'. Invitations will be sent to all rooms at certain hotels, such as the Pan Pacific and Fullerton. Developers, on the other hand, have a captive audience - some of them are flying guests into town for the race and will be taking them on visits to the latest luxury offerings. One developer, which is hosting guests for the F1, told BT that while there are no plans to take these guests to showflats during the F1 weekend itself, guests who extend their stay will be invited to look at luxury developments. Hamilton Scotts, a 30-storey upmarket project by Hayden Properties - the first project in Asia to feature car parking within apartment units - will hold a car show during the race weekend at its showflat.
- The Business Times, P5
Wing Tai picks Top Architects for 2 Projects
Jean Nouvel, the latest recipient of the prestigious Pritzker Prize will be the 10th winner to design a building here. Mr Nouvel will design his first project here - a luxury 43-unit apartment building in District 9 to be called Le Nouvel Ardmore. For Le Nouvel Ardmore, Mr Nouvel has created a 33-storey tower derived from the concept of a rotating Rubik's cube. While the tower will not actually 'rotate', automated screens will be incorporated into the facade so homeowners can 'frame their own views' and create unique living spaces. Besides giving the tower a distinctive look, the buffer space will be planted at certain levels to correspond to the villas-in-the-sky ambience of the development. Internally, units will have high ceilings bathed in light from big windows that will provide 270 degree views. Japanese architect Toyo Ito had been commissioned for its other 160 unit luxury development, Belle Vue Residences in Oxley Walk.
- The Business Times, P32
Citco Expanding Office Space, adding Staff
The Citco Group of Companies has announced a major expansion in Singapore, with a view to using the Republic as a hub for its business in the Far East region. It is adding 45,000 square feet of office space for its hedge fund administration services in Singapore. It is also seeking to create 400 new jobs here. The group will continue to use its office here to serve its clients in the Far East and support its global fund administration businesses. The global provider of hedge fund services first set up a Fund Services office in Singapore in May last year and has since hired 100 staff as part of its strategic expansion in the region.
- The Business Times, P14
Lehman’s Failure won’t Affect Projects: CES
CHIP Eng Seng’s (CES) JV partner; Lehman Brothers Real Estate Partners II (LBREP II) is a US$2.4 billion fund that was closed in 2005. Only a fraction of that sum - some US$400 million - came from Lehman Brothers and its employees. Their 695-unit The Parc Condominium at West Coast Walk is already 95 per cent sold at an average price of $880 per square foot (psf). The 70-unit CityVista at Peck Hay Road is 54 per cent sold at an average $2,550 psf. Lehman Brothers is believed to own a 45,000 square feet building at Clemenceau Avenue worth about $80 million. Its managed fund teamed up with Australia's Lend Lease in a 75:25 JV to buy Paradiz Centre in Selegie Road for $138 million in 2006. Its other assets have been divested. The office building at 71 Robinson Road which Lehman jointly owned with Kajima Overseas Asia in April was sold to a German fund for $743.8 million, higher than some $613.4 million they spent on the land and redevelopment. Lehman sold Novotel Clarke Quay last year to CDL Hospitality Real Estate Investment Trust at $219.8 million, double the amount it spent on it.
- The Business Times, P8
Economists turn Bearish on Outlook for Singapore
Most of those polled by The Straits Times now believe growth will come in under 4 per cent, with some downgrading their predictions to as low as 2.8 per cent. The official forecast is still a 4 to 5 per cent expansion, but Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang has already said full-year growth may dip below that. Exports fell last month by the most in 20 months, plunging 13.8 per cent over the previous year in its fourth straight month of decline. Tourist arrivals also dropped for the third consecutive month last month, hit by the global economic slowdown.
- The Straits Times, B22
(See attachment 1; “Below Trend”)
Private Firms feel left out of ASEAN Intergration Process
Based on interviews with more than 80 multinational companies, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and government officials based in Asean over three months earlier this year, private companies feel excluded in the Asean economic integration and want to be more involved in decision-making, said McKinsey & Company. He added that most firms said they were willing to contribute, and this could come in the form of feedback to white papers on economic integration plans. But economic officials also expect private businesses to engage themselves better, said Mr Auerbach.
- The Business Times, P14
(See also, The Straits Times, B19 “Firms ‘feel left out’ of ASEAN Integration”)
Not Taxed by Taxes, say Two out of Five Singapore Firms
Two out of five private businesses in Singapore say they do not face 'burdening taxes' - the highest proportion in 34 countries polled by consulting firm Grant Thornton. Almost all, or 97 per cent, of businesses in Singapore also reckon tax issues are a significant factor in deciding where to set up an overseas operating base, ahead of the global average of 77 per cent, the survey found. 60 per cent of private firms here also consider a tax-free period of five years the most influential factor in going abroad. This was compared with other incentives such as a low tax rate on business profits, a stable tax regime and incentives for capital investment or research and development.
- The Business Times, P14
S’pore is No 4 SME Financing: Poll
SINGAPORE is ranked the No 4 city for profitable small and medium-sized enterprise. Emerging top centres of commerce for SME financing are Paris, Tokyo and Munich in MasterCard Research's ranking of 53 global cities. The global revenue opportunity for financial institutions from SME financing is estimated at $5 trillion. In the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa (APMEA) region, Tokyo and Singapore emerged first and second respectively.
- The Business Times, P14
Global Foreign Investment to Fall 10% this year, warns UN
FDI flows are falling this year, largely because of a sharp drop in merger and acquisition (M&A) activity, the main driver of FDI. Half the respondents said that the possibility of a global downturn is a significant additional threat to their investment plans, and 39 per cent said that financial instability has already had a significant negative impact on their intended spending over the next three years. The Unctad survey shows that companies consider China, India, the United States, Russia and Brazil as the most attractive destinations for investment.
- The Business Times, P15
Suzhou Track Record did it for Jurong Int’l
With the track record built up at Suzhou, Jurong International, which specialises in master planning, has fanned out to the rest of the country. In South China, its projects are concentrated in Guangdong, Fujian and Guangxi provinces. International Enterprise Singapore, the government agency, which pushes Singapore companies to go global, put Jurong International in touch with local Chinese government officials, especially in South China. And this has led to many 'significant' projects.
- The Business Times, P13
Allgreen Consortium wins Nanjing Commercial Site
A three-party consortium, which includes Singapore-listed Allgreen Properties, has won the bid for a commercial site in China's Nanjing City. Allgreen, which participated in the tender exercise through wholly owned subsidiary Belfin Investments, said the 17,014 square metre site is designated for hotel, commercial and office use. The purchase price is 200 million yuan (S$41.6 million). The other members in the consortium are subsidiaries of Kerry Properties and Shangri-la Asia. The maximum total investment cost for this latest Nanjing site is about 1.5 billion yuan.
- The Business Times, P9
Potential of going South
By the end of next month, Singapore-based Mapletree will move to a permanent office in China. Most of its investments in China have been concentrated in the country's northern and eastern regions, in places such as Tianjin, Beijing, Shanghai, Wuxi, Jiangsu and Xian. Come end-October, with a permanent office in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong in South China, Mapletree, which owns $5.7 billion of real estate assets and runs $5.2 billion of third-party assets in Asia, plans to expand its investment base down south in China. Mixed-use development Nanhai Business City, in Foshan City, is a joint venture with a local partner, with Mapletree holding an 80 per cent stake. This is an integrated business, living and leisure precinct with a gross floor area of about 350,000 square metres, costing US$341 million to develop.
- The Business Times, P13
Monaco now has the Costliest Luxury Homes
London was overtaken by Monaco as the world's most expensive location for luxury homes. The average price of London's most expensive houses and apartments rose 1.8 per cent to £3,291 a square foot in the second quarter from a year earlier, according to an index compiled by Knight Frank LLP. In Monaco, the average increase was 30 per cent to £3,762, the property broker said on Tuesday in a statement.
- The Business Times, P31
Opportunities Galore in South China
Singapore sank US$1.78 billion into Guangdong from 2003 to 2007, making it the fifth-largest foreign investor in the province. Singapore has 597 projects in Guangdong. Mr Law says that in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong, Singapore companies can set up businesses in lifestyle and services, such as food and beverage and education, as well as electronics and precision engineering. 'Emerging districts in Guangzhou, such as the Nansha Economic and Technological Development Zone, offer potential opportunities for Singapore companies that are keen to be involved in the development of transport and logistics as well as infrastructure services,' he says.
- The Business Times, P12
(See attachment 2; “Singapore based Guangdong Companies” listing)
China Developers Cave in to Cut Prices
Property sales fell 11 per cent in the first seven months from a year earlier, adding to the squeeze on cash flow confronting most developers after Beijing intensified its credit tightening late last year. Bank regulators reiterated in late August that banks must not lend to developers for land purchases, a sign taken by the market that the government would not loosen its grip any time soon. With an industry-wide profit margin of more than 30 per cent, many of the developers have scope to cut prices, at least for now.
- The Business Times, P30
S Korea’s Growth will lower than Forecast: Minister
In July, the government predicted the economy would expand 4.7 per cent in 2008 from 5 per cent in 2007. 'With the financial turmoil stemming from the US, we will try to achieve at least mid-4 per cent growth,' Mr Kang told parliament in Seoul yesterday. The government this month announced plans to cut income and property taxes, increase spending on roads, ports and housing, and provide aid to smaller businesses to boost economic growth.
- The Business Times, P15

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