Rentals of Grade A offices in Singapore are expected to continue rising this year. According to property consultant Savills, average office rentals here may even nudge above that of Hong Kong's, currently the highest in the region. They added that Singapore's office property sector will continue to remain buoyant despite worries over the US sub-prime crisis. One Raffles Quay in Singapore's Central...
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Singapore's third largest lender OCBC Bank has reported flat profits for the full year at S$2.07 billion, marginally higher than S$2 billion profit in 2006. Excluding divestment gains from non-core assets and tax refunds, OCBC's core net profit beat expectations by growing 30% to S$1.88 billion on the back of strong loans growth. OCBC is seeing broad-based revenue growth across its key markets and...
Shares of Ascott Group are likely to be suspended, now that CapitaLand has gained control of 91.7 percent of the company. Under listing rules, the Singapore Exchange may suspend a stock when its free float falls below 10 percent. In a statement, CapitaLand says it will not appeal for the trading suspension to be lifted. The company has said that it intends to take the Ascott Group private. However, it...
Singapore erupted in celebration on Thursday after winning the right to host the inaugural Youth Olympics in 2010, with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong calling it a new era for Southeast Asian sport. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) awarded the Games to the city-state ahead of Moscow by a vote of 53 to 44. It will be the first time that Singapore is hosting a multi-disciplinary sporting event of...
A 30-storey hotel is set to be built on a reserve site at Gopeng Street/Peck Seah Street, the Urban Redevelopment Authority revealed on Thursday. The land parcel, which spans just over 2,300 square metres, is one of the two new hotel sites being released under the government land sales programme for the first half of 2008. The 99-year leasehold site can generate a maximum permissible gross floor area of...
Parkway Holdings says its upcoming hospital in Novena will be ready by 2011. The hospital, to be built at the junction of Novena Terrace and Irrawaddy Road, aims to meet the expected increase in demand for hospital beds. The Parkway Group expects the Singapore market to have a shortfall of as many as 2,000 private patient beds by 2012. Unveiling detailed plans for its fourth hospital in Singapore,...
The 17-storey Singapore Power Building on Somerset Road has been sold. Pacific Star Group did not disclose the price it paid but it is believed to be close to S$1 billion. The property group described the transaction as a landmark deal and one of the largest commercial real estate deals transacted in Singapore to date. It is planning a makeover of the 30-year-old property. Part of the plans will be to...
Singapore's Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC) said Thursday its fourth quarter net profit fell 16 percent from a year ago in the absence of one-time gains and higher expenses offsetting strong revenues. Net profit was S$428 million compared with S$510 million a year ago when it was bloated by divestment gains. Revenue totalled S$1.08 billion, up 19 percent from the same period last year, the bank said...
Property developer United Overseas Land (UOL) has more than doubled its profit for 2007, helped by a S$590.5 million gain from investment properties. Net earnings jumped 134 percent to a record S$759 million, boosted by higher income from property development, quoted investments, property investments and hotel operations. Revenue rose 18 percent to S$709 million. The group benefited from the progressive...
Capitaland is suing the owners of four units of Gillman Heights condominium for breach of contract. It is also seeking unspecified damages. The owners, who belonged to a majority group, had agreed to sell their units in a collective sale agreement with CapitaLand in February last year. CapitaLand is paying S$548 million for the 607-unit estate and the deal has also received the approval of the Strata...