Fraser and Neave (F&N) has delivered a 33 per cent rise in first quarter profit to S$103 million. It attributed the strong performance to contributions from its property developments, including the Soleil @ Sinaran project in Singapore and other overseas projects. Revenue for the first quarter rose 19 per cent year-on-year to S$1.3 billion. F&N also plans to launch the sale of two other projects...
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Sembawang Engineers and Constructors has won a S$400 million contract to build the North Podium of the Marina Bay Sands integrated resort. The podium, which will have four upper levels and four basements, will house the casino, theatres and a retail arcade. Construction work will start this month and expected to be completed by April 2009. The company is also building the new Downtown Line Bayfront MRT...
Singapore’s economy expanded 5.4 percent on-year in the fourth quarter, falling short of the advance estimate for 6.0 percent growth, said the Ministry of Trade and Industry in a statement. Singapore’s gross domestic product fell 4.8 percent in the fourth quarter from the third on a seasonally adjusted and annualised basis compared to an initial estimate for a 3.2 percent decline. The economy...
GIC Real Estate has bought a 40 per cent stake in Finland’s fifth largest modern shopping centre, Iso Omena, for 132 million euros or about S$270 million. The seller, Citycon, will continue to own the remaining 60 per cent of the mall. Citycon will also continue to manage the shopping centre in Helsinki. Iso Omena has a total lettable area of over 61,000 square metres. Both Citycon and GIC RE have...
Singapore has moved up 10 spots to become the world’s seventh most expensive office location. According to Cushman & Wakefield’s global ranking, prime office rents shot up 78 percent in Singapore last year. The property consultancy expects demand for office space from companies across most industry sectors to remain strong this year against a tight supply till 2010. Cushman is predicting that...
Construction of the Downtown Line began on February 12 and the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said it will decide where to build future stations for the new line after looking at commuter traffic. Besides the Chinatown Station, the first phase will consist of another five stations. But for the other 27 stations, which fall under phases two and three, the LTA has yet to finalise their locations on the...
Standard Chartered Bank is investing S$206m in a new office building in Changi Business Park in Singapore. The new building will house the bank's back-end operations and a global learning centre, and will be completed in 2010. This makes Standard Chartered the latest financial institution to relocate part of its operations to Changi. DBS, Citibank and Credit Suisse have made similar announcements. The...
Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew believed Asia will not go into recession, citing not only strong growth in China and India, but also the strength of commodity prices boosting growth in Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia. Speaking to some 1,200 people at the Tanjong Pagar Lunar New Year dinner on Monday night, Mr Lee said Singapore is at the centre of the world's highest growth region, and is in a period of...
Resorts World at Sentosa has secured S$4 billion in credit facilities for its integrated resort development. The credit facilities would fund two-thirds of the company's projected cost of S$6 billion. The rest of the funds will come through a rights issue by Genting International, the parent of Resorts World. DBS and OCBC are among five local and international banks which will underwrite, bookrun and...
With global interest rates trending downwards, some Singapore homeowners are hoping to see a similar move in mortgage rates. This is especially after the Singapore Interbank Offered Rate (SIBOR) hit its lowest level in almost four years in late December - at 1.5 percent. However, some analysts have said that the banks may not be willing to lower rates, in light of the current volatility in global...