CapitaLand’s offer to buy the remaining shares of its 67-per-cent unit, The Ascott Group, at $1.73 apiece represents a decent exit price for minority owners of the luxury residences operator, according to CIMB, who said the price “is a fair valuation from a historical perspective, but attractive in the current environment of heightened risk aversion”. Stock markets worldwide have been rocked in...

Boosted by sale of stake in One Raffles Quay, the firm posts a seven-fold surge in Q4 profits to $572 million Keppel Land kicked off the current quarterly earnings for the property sector on a positive note with a strong set of results, but analysts said the sharp gains may not be repeated in the current year as businesses could face weaker business conditions. The seven-fold surge in net profit to $572...

Tecity has raised its general offer for Straits Trading to S$6.50 a share following a counter bid from the Lee family. The revised offer values the company at S$2.1 billion. It is 14 per cent higher than Tecity's original offer price of S$5.70 and 31 per cent above the last traded price of Straits Trading before the general offer. The latest offer by Tecity, controlled by the family of the late Tan Chin...

Singapore will announce its national budget for the fiscal year of 2008 on 15 February, in a parliamentary seating. Analysts say they expect the government to announce measures to help Singaporeans cope with inflation and the higher cost of living. In December 2007, consumer prices rose 4.4 percent over the previous year, touching a 25-year high in the Republic's history. For the whole year, the...

SMRT has officially opened its first heartland, non-underground retail space - Choa Chu Kang Xchange, at the junction of a bus interchange, MRT and LRT stations. This follows the Raffles and Dhoby Xchanges, both of which are in the city. Covering close to 1,000 square metres, all 42 shops at Choa Chu Kang Xchange have been leased out. MRT Corporation president & CEO, Saw Phaik Hwa, said: "(Five...

BBR Holdings has won a S$95 million contract to build two office tower blocks at the International Business Park in Jurong East. Piling works will begin next month and the project is expected to be completed by August next year. The latest award from Ascendas adds to BBR's current order book of nearly S$423 million. The project will feature two 12-storey tower blocks linked by a sky-bridge at the 10th...

Singapore's economy should be on track with the government's growth forecast of 4.5 percent, says Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong. Even with the current stock market volatility and credit crisis in the US, Mr Goh says Singapore's real economy should grow for 2008. SM Goh is also MP for Marine Parade GRC. The needy residents at Marine Parade got an early Lunar New Year surprise on Sunday as the Senior...

Come 2010, Woodlands residents can enjoy seafront recreational amenities right at their doorstops. The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has unveiled a S$19m design plan to build a coastal promenade and park in their neighbourhood. Woodlands will certainly live up to its name with URA's "Woodlands Waterfront" proposal, where more lush greenery, trees and woods will be planted. A nine-hectare park will...

After five years of construction, the Kim Chuan Depot is now ready to provide support for the upcoming Circle and Downtown MRT Lines. The underground structure will provide stabling of the trains, maintenance and operational control of the two rail lines. Transport Minister Raymond Lim visited the new facility on Friday, where he announced more rail lines ahead following a review of Singapore's land...

Fraser and Neave (F&N) has sold a unit of its Soleil @ Sinaran residential development for $2.66 million to the relatives of its chairman Lee Hsien Yang (picture). Mrs Lim Chong Yah, who is Mr Lee's mother-in-law, and Ms Lin Xueling, his sister-in-law, bought the unit, located in the Novena area, during the public launch of the project, F&N said in a filing with the Singapore Exchange. The project...