Market Snapshot
Singapore stocks opened higher on Wednesday. STI rose 0.3%, SIA rose 0.5%; DBS rose 0.8%, SingTel rose 0.8%, Seatrium rose 1.1%, Genting Singapore rose 1.1%.
Stocks to Watch
CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust (CICT) (C38U), CapitaLand Investment (CLI): The manager of the trust and CLI announced on Tuesday that they secured a 10-year tenancy from the European Central Bank (ECB) for their jointly owned 38-storey office building in the Frankfurt banking district. The ECB is expected to become one of the trust’s top 10 tenants. CLI holds a 5.1 per cent interest in the building, while CICT holds the remaining majority stake. Shares of CLI closed S$0.04 or 1.5 per cent higher at S$2.71 and units of CICT were up S$0.01 or 0.5 per cent at S$1.96, before the announcement.
Seatrium (S51): Its board said on Wednesday that it has received the approval in-principle from the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading regarding the proposed 20-for-1 share consolidation exercise. The approval is also subject to, among other things, shareholder approval of upcoming annual general meeting. The counter closed on Tuesday up 1.1 per cent or S$0.001 to S$0.092.
Far East Orchard (O10): The property group has agreed to buy a plot of land in central Glasgow for £3 million (S$5.1 million). Far East Orchard intends to develop the land into a 273-bed purpose-built student accommodation by 2026. The acquisition is expected to have no material impact on the consolidated net earnings per share and consolidated net tangible assets per share, said the company in an announcement on Tuesday. Shares of Far East Orchard traded flat at S$1.01, before the news.
Keong Hong (5TT): The mainboard-listed company has given notice for the second year in a row that it recorded three consecutive years of losses. Based on a Wednesday filing, Keong Hong’s six-month average daily market capitalisation as at Mar 12 stood at S$35 million, or under the S$40 million requirement to avoid being placed on the SGX watch list. The counter ended on Tuesday flat at S$0.16 with no trades done.
SG Local News
Singapore to Clamp Down on Corporate-Service Providers After Money Laundering Scandal
Singapore is planning to tighten its rules governing corporate-service providers, following a spate of money-laundering cases involving foreign nationals in the city state.
All entities providing corporate services — such as business formation and regulatory filings — in and from Singapore will need to be registered with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority, according to a proposal that was published on Tuesday.
The government is also looking to impose fines of up to S$100,000 ($75,140) on registered corporate-service providers and their senior management, if they breach rules on anti-money-laundering and illicit financing.
Singapore Moves to Make Visitor Travel In and Out Even Easier
Singapore is making it even easier for people to come and go from the tropical city-state, allowing drivers crossing into the country through two land checkpoints to use a QR code instead of their passports.
Travelers arriving and departing Singapore via Woodlands and Tuas checkpoints will from March 19 only need a scanned single QR code, which they can generate prior to arriving and which can be used for all people in a vehicle, the nation’s Immigration & Checkpoints Authority said in a statement.
Overall wait times, which can often stretch to hours in busy periods when workers are trying to cross the border from Malaysia, should be reduced by around 30% if most car travelers use the QR code for clearance, the authority said.
Singapore Sees Macro Uncertainty Impact on Property Sector
A Singapore minister cautioned that economic uncertainties will weigh on the country’s real estate industry, as home sales in the city-state show flagging demand.
“The outlook economically is not clear. It’s not likely to be benign,” said Desmond Lee, Minister for National Development in a Monday interview with broadcaster CNA. “We see interest rates staying higher for longer. We see economic uncertainties in the road ahead of us. We see geopolitical tensions, and all these will have an impact on the property sector.”
Singapore’s real estate sector is bracing itself for a fading property boom. While the city-state has avoided downturns that afflicted other cities such as Hong Kong, sales have been on a downward trend since the government introduced measures to cool the market and rising interest rates began to bite.
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