Archive for November 13th, 2008
Posted by luxuryasiahome on November 13, 2008
Economies such as Singapore and Hong Kong have benefited from the global economic boom in the last five years. But their open and exposed economies mean they are also vulnerable to recessionary pressures as the world economy slows down.
However, Morgan Stanley said it is not all doom and gloom for Singapore. Experts said the country would be among the first to bounce back once a global recovery takes place.
Stephen Roach, chairman, Morgan Stanley Asia, said: “If the global economy surprises on the upside, Singapore will be one of the first economies in the region to benefit from that. But I think it is hard to be too optimistic right now on global economy prospects over the next few years.”
Morgan Stanley, too, is feeling the pinch of the global slowdown. It announced on Thursday that it would be retrenching 10 per cent of its staff in the institutional securities unit and 9 per cent in asset management.
The global financial services firm said less of these cuts are likely to come from Asia. In fact, Morgan Stanley remains bullish on the prospects of Asian growth once the crisis is over and this bodes well for markets like Singapore.
Roach said: “The main challenges are to consider the options that (the) Singaporean government must consider to counter very powerful external headwinds around the world.
“The good news is that Singapore is more integrated with the rest of Asia than it is with Europe, South America and North America. The Asian region itself is likely to fair better than the rest of the world in this global downturn.”
Morgan Stanley downgraded its growth forecast for Asian countries earlier this week, but it expects a sharp recovery in Asia in the next few years on the back of solid economic fundamentals in the region.
Source : Channel NewsAsia – 13 Nov 2008
Posted in General, Singapore Economy | Tagged: Singapore Economy, Singapore Economy Outlook | Leave a Comment »
Posted by luxuryasiahome on November 13, 2008
The Housing and Development Board (HDB) has launched Punggol Arcadia, a 750-unit project under its Build-To-Order (BTO) system. The project is at the junction of Punggol Place and Punggol Field.
Buyers can choose from 3-room, 4-room and 5-room units. The price of these flats range from S$181,000 for a 3-room unit to S$416,000 for a 5-room unit.
4-room units cost between S$268,000 and S$327,000. This is higher than the S$223,000 for a 4-room unit to S$382,000 for a 5-room unit for the 964-unit Punggol Breeze BTO project launched in June this year.
HDB said Punggol Arcadia, located next to the planned Punggol town centre, offers a better location. Some of its 4-room units are also slightly bigger than those of Punggol Breeze.
The project is also close to amenities such as the Punggol MRT station, bus interchange and schools.
Those who wish to apply for a unit should make their submissions by November 26 via the Internet at HDB’s InfoWEB. Computer terminals with access to the site can be found at all HDB offices.
For more information, visit HDB’s InfoWEB at www.hdb.gov.sg.
Source : Channel NewsAsia – 13 Nov 2008
Posted in General, HDB News | Tagged: BTO Flats, Build-to-order Flats, HDB, HDB News, Punggol, Punggol Arcadia | Leave a Comment »
Posted by luxuryasiahome on November 13, 2008
Property firm City Developments (CityDev) has posted net profits of S$150.8 million for the third quarter of this year – down 11 per cent from last year.
Revenue for the period came down 13.6 per cent to hit S$688 million.
The firm said it would hold back the launch of new residential projects for the time being, in light of the subdued property market and global economic uncertainty.
It has also agreed with its joint venture partners to defer construction of its South Beach development until construction costs come down from their present high levels.
Lower revenue figures were attributed to the fact that many of its projects, such as the Savannah CondoPark, The Equatorial, The Pier at Robertson and The Imperial, had been fully sold by the end of last year.
The company also saw lower earnings from its City Square Residences and a decline in land bank sale in New Zealand.
In addition, the slowing global economy caused CityDev’s hotel business to slow down by about 5.1 per cent in the third quarter as compared to last year.
CityDev also said that the weakening of the US dollar and the pound against the Singapore dollar contributed to lower earnings.
For the first nine months of the year to September, net profits were 1.8 per cent lower than the same period in 2007, at S$481 million.
Source : Channel NewsAsia – 13 Nov 2008
Posted in Developer News, General | Tagged: CDL, City Developments, Developers, South Beach | Leave a Comment »
Posted by luxuryasiahome on November 13, 2008
City Developments has posted an 11 per cent drop in third quarter net earnings to S$150.8 million. Net profit for the first nine months of this year dipped 1.8 per cent to S$480.95 million.
It also revealed that that the construction of the group’s South Beach project has been deferred. ‘Under the current economic turmoil and the presently high construction cost environment that Singapore is currently experiencing, the group and its two joint-venture partners for the South Beach development have agreed in principle, to defer the construction of this project.
‘The consortium believes that construction cost will come down over time and therefore, it will delay the development of South Beach till construction cost reverts to more reasonable level. The Group has a one-third share in South Beach,’ CDL said in its results statement.
Source : Business Times – 13 Nov 2008
Posted in Developer News, General | Tagged: CDL, City Developments, Developers, South Beach | Leave a Comment »
Posted by luxuryasiahome on November 13, 2008
Koh Brothers Group Limited said net profit for the third quarter of this year fell 22 per cent to S$26.62 million compared to a year ago.
Revenue fell 23 per cent to S$168.63 million.
Source : Business Times – 13 Nov 2008
Posted in Developer News, General | Tagged: Developers, Koh Brothers | Leave a Comment »
Posted by luxuryasiahome on November 13, 2008
Property Group Ho Bee said net profit for the third quarter this year fell 52.3 per cent to S$18.72 million compared to a year ago.
Revenue was down 59.4 per cent at S$52.55 million. This was due mainly to the lower recognition of revenue from property development projects in the current quarter.
It said the expected completion of five of the group’s residential projects by the 1st half of 2009, namely, The Coast, Paradise Island, Orange Grove Residences, Vertis & Quinterra will have a significant contribution to the Group’s revenue and earnings for FY 2009.
Source : Business Times – 13 Nov 2008
Posted in Developer News, General | Tagged: Developers, Ho Bee | Leave a Comment »
Posted by luxuryasiahome on November 13, 2008
Banyan Tree Holdings has seen its third quarter earnings hit by political unrest in Thailand which affected its operations there.
The resort developer and manager posted a 78 per cent on-year decline in net profit to S$14 million for the first nine months of the year to September.
In the third quarter, the company reported a net loss of S$4.9 million compared to net profits of S$49.1 million last year.
Banyan Tree has focused on the high-end resort market, which has been relatively unaffected by the financial crisis.
But political unrest and other recent disruptions to travel in Thailand hurt its profits this year.
Ho Kwon Ping, executive chairman, Banyan Tree Holdings, said: “We were very badly hit in Phuket where we have a number of properties. And it wasn’t just the political crisis in Thailand alone. It was the fact that for the first time ever, Phuket International Airport was closed for three days and that had huge ramifications on the travel, trade and people stopped coming afterwards.”
The company’s revenue from its Thailand operations fell 21 per cent.
But the rest of its operations fared better, with sales from businesses outside of Thailand up 10 per cent.
The company expects the global slowdown to affect demand from business travellers and conferences.
It intends to focus on the leisure market which is expected to be more resilient.
Mr Ho continued: “Individual, family based leisure travel is the last to go. You don’t need financing in order to go on a holiday. You don’t want to cancel a holiday because it’s usually a very precious moment for you and your loved ones. So people usually fight very hard to preserve their holidays.”
Banyan Tree is aiming to target this market by boosting its internet booking capabilities and focusing on short-haul travellers within Asia.
Source : Channel NewsAsia – 13 Nov 2008
Posted in Developer News, General | Tagged: Banyan Tree, Developers | Leave a Comment »
Posted by luxuryasiahome on November 13, 2008
BANYAN Tree Holdings reported a net loss of $4.88 million for the third quarter ended 30 September 2008, and a flat revenue of $82.75 million as business was hit by the political turmoil in Thailand.
In comparison, the company earned a net profit of $49.1 million in 3Q07, bolstered largely by a one-off exceptional gain of $44.5 million then.
For the nine months ended 30 Sep, net profit plummeted 78 per cent to $13.98 million while revenue grew 19 per cent to $321.72 million.
‘We are approaching the outlook of the group more cautiously given the increased deterioration of the global financial situation and a period of great uncertainties,’ warned the group, adding that the political turmoil in Thailand, if protracted, could have significant impact. ‘We expect fourth quarter results to be lower than last year.’
However, the group expects Banyan Tree to remain profitable for FY2008.
Source : Business Times – 13 Nov 2008
Posted in Developer News, General | Tagged: Banyan Tree | Leave a Comment »
Posted by luxuryasiahome on November 13, 2008
Hotel Royal has reported a net profit of $2.55 million for the third quarter of 2008, an increase of 17.6 per cent over $2.17 million a year ago.
Revenue for the quarter was $1.37 million, an increase of 17.4 per cent year-on-year.
This was attributed to the stronger contribution by hotel operations. However, the group’s revenue was partially offset by the weaker rental income from Grand Complex in New Zealand.
Due to the financial crisis, Hotel Royal said it suffered an unrealised fair value loss of $1.07 million on its held-for-trading investments.
Hotel Royal said that with the current financial crisis and a possible global recession, the hotel industry in Singapore will be affected. It added: ‘We expect the fourth quarter to be a challenging quarter for our hotel operations.’
Source : Business Times – 13 Nov 2008
Posted in General, Hotel | Tagged: Hotel Royal, Singapore Hotels | Leave a Comment »
Posted by luxuryasiahome on November 13, 2008
Stamford Land Corporation Ltd reported a 26 per cent drop in net profit for the fiscal first quarter ended September 30, 2008 to S$9.93 million compared to a year ago.
Revenue was down 13.4 per cent to S$125.97 million. This was because lower revenue was recorded from sale of the Stamford Marque project.
One remaining penthouse apartment was sold in the current period compared to sales of 19 units in the prior period.
It said given the current global financial crisis, it is inevitable that it will face an economic slowdown in Austra and New Zealand.
It is expecting operating profit for the second half of the financial year to be lower than the same period last year.
Source : Business Times – 13 Nov 2008
Posted in Developer News, General | Tagged: Developers, Stamford Land, Stamford Marque | Leave a Comment »
