Marina at Keppel Bay wins Best Asian New Marina award
It scored for its pontoon system, wave attenuator, service standards Marina at Keppel Bay has beaten seven other new marinas in the region to win the Best Asian New Marina/Yacht Club award at the Christofle Asia Boating Awards in Shanghai. Twenty judges – industry experts from Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, China, India and Singapore – … Read more
US housing starts hit 17-year low while consumer prices stay mild
Inflation data seen giving Fed scope to cut interest rates The number of US housing projects started last month fell to the lowest in 17 years, while consumer prices moved up a bit less than expected, leaving the Federal Reserve some room to lower interest rates to ward off a housing-led slowdown. While the slide … Read more
Sharp drop in Q1 new home sales
But don’t expect prices to fall, say analysts IN another sign of a lull in the private residential property market, developers managed to sell only 795 new homes in the first three months of this year — a hefty 46 per cent decline from the fourth quarter of last year. “This was the second lowest … Read more
Banks poaching home loan customers with sweet offers
AS HOME sales continue to slide, banks are going all out to hang on to their existing home loan borrowers. Some poach from their rivals while others are offering to pay off the penalties that customers may incur making the switch. Flexibility has become a byword and new packages are getting more imaginative, The Business … Read more
82 months’ bonus
Are bonuses of $5m-plus excessive? Consultants say that is the norm overseas GETTING a three-month bonus at the end of the year may be a satisfying reward for most people. Now imagine getting 80 months’ bonus. That means for that a year worked, you will get about seven years’ worth of pay in terms of … Read more
Different strokes for different segments if developers cut prices
In cutting prices by 3-5 per cent at three existing projects and achieving encouraging sales, property giant Far East Organization may have set the cat among the pigeons. Other developers must now ask themselves whether to embrace this strategy. Of course, the bigger ones have the financial muscle to hold back launches and sales for … Read more
US recession will be mild: G-8 business chiefs
Europe, Japan also likely to escape severe damage to their economies BUSINESS leaders from the G-8 countries meeting in Tokyo yesterday offered a reassuring assessment of the likely impact of the sub-prime crisis on the world’s major economies. They argued that the US would suffer only a ‘mild recession’ in the first half of 2008 … Read more
1 in 4 employers polled expects recession soon
Health-care sector most gloomy but media, advertising sectors still upbeat JUST over one in four employers polled recently expect Singapore to face a recession in the next six months, according to a survey by recruitment consultancy Hudson released yesterday. The survey of 733 decision makers from multinationals was done in February, amid fears of a … Read more
Many in S’pore expect pain if recession comes
Banking sector most downbeat, IT appears resilient: Hudson report If there is a recession, business here is more likely to be hit than that elsewhere in Asia. And workers here may feel the pain, too. Not everyone in Singapore is anticipating a downturn. Only about a quarter (26 per cent) of 733 executives in key … Read more
Singdollar hits new high against Greenback
US$1 = S$1.3495 THE Singapore dollar rose to a record high, as Asian currencies advanced, spurring speculation that the Republic’s central bank can allow gains to slow inflation without losing export competitiveness. Singapore’s currency, managed against an undisclosed basket of currencies of its major trading partners, was the second-best performer among the 10 most active … Read more
