ARA Asset Management has posted first-quarter earnings of S$9.2 million, up 137 percent from a year ago. Revenue more than doubled to S$17.5 million. The growth was mainly due to higher management fees from its REIT portfolio, as well as higher net property income. ARA is expecting its asset enhancement initiatives to boost income for the full year of 2008. It is looking to set up REITs in new asset...
General
Two Singapore banks on Wednesday reported falls in first-quarter net profit as trading activities took a hit from global financial turmoil. DBS Group, Southeast Asia's biggest bank, said its net profit in the first quarter ended March 31 dipped 2.0 percent to S$603 million (US$446 million) compared with the previous year. Singapore's smallest bank, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC), reported a four...
Accountants think that Singapore is up for challenges this year, according to a survey by the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Singapore (ICPAS). 64 percent of the respondents said their outlook for the economy ranged from neutral to pessimistic. Inflationary pressure was one of the top reasons for the dim economic outlook among Singapore accountants, with 90 percent of the respondents...
Allco Commercial REIT said on Wednesday it is putting its stakes in two properties in Australia up for sale and has appointed sales agents for these properties. The properties are Central Park in Perth and Centrelink Headquarters in Canberra. Together, they are valued at around A$483 million or S$624 million. CB Richard Ellis and Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) will sell Allco's 50 percent interest in Central...
IT IS interesting the fact that en bloc unhappiness still prevails despite last year’s new rulings. Maybe it is time the guidelines are further tweaked to follow those of the Housing and Development Board’s Lift Upgrading System. Before any en bloc committee is formed, the management committee should conduct a poll for every registered resident to either opt in or out of en bloc. If 100 per cent...
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said Singapore will continue to develop the financial sector as more activities are being moved to the city-state. Mr Lee, who was speaking to 120 bankers at the hour-long Thomson Reuters Dialogue on Tuesday, added that more would be done to ease capacity constraints, such as the crunch in office space and accommodation. The financial sector in Singapore grew by some 17.5...
Mainboard-listed Parkway Life REIT has booked a distributable income of S$9.8 million for the first quarter. That works out to a distribution per unit (DPU) of 1.62 cents. All in, gross revenue hit S$11.9m on the back of sustained demand for private healthcare. The REIT's portfolio includes Mount Elizabeth Hospital, Gleneagles Hospital and East Shore Hospital. - CNA/ir Source : Channel NewsAsia - 6 May...
The Economic Development Board (EDB) has unveiled more details of the Solar Capability Scheme, aimed at spurring demand for clean technology and building up expertise in the new industry. The S$20 million scheme was first announced in Parliament in April by Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry, S Iswaran. The EDB said it expects to fund up to 100 projects. Under the scheme, new buildings need...
The private sector can tap on S$20 million to offset part of the capital costs of installing solar technologies in new building projects, the Economic Development Board (EDB) announced on Tuesday. The Solar Capability Scheme (SCS), launched at SEMICON Singapore 2008, is the latest programme by the Clean Energy Programme Office (CEPO). It seeks to build up the capabilities of companies through increased...
Hasty judgments should not be made just to prevent speculative property buying I am extremely taken aback by a recent media report highlighting the negative impact the deferred payment scheme (DPS) will have on the property market. The headline “Deferred payment scheme: Up to 4,200 homes may be dumped” was used to capture readers’ attention. In the absence of concrete data and evidence, we should...