Property developer Keppel Land has become the latest company here to boost its capital through a rights issue. It is seeking to raise some S$712 million by issuing about 653 million new ordinary shares. Under the rights issue, holders will be offered nine rights shares for every 10 existing ordinary shares. Each rights share would be sold at a price of S$1.09, a 42 per cent discount over Thursday's...

Property developer CapitaLand on Friday posted an 83 per cent fall in its first quarter profit. For the three months ended March, the developer's profit was S$42.9 million, down from S$247.5 million earned over the same period last year. Revenue fell by 23 per cent to S$487 million due mainly to lower property values across the region. Lower profits were recorded in China, Europe and Australia, which...

Mapletree Logistics Trust saw its distributable income amount rise 36.1 per cent to some S$29 million in the first quarter of 2009 over the previous year. The trust said available distribution per unit (DPU) was 1.47 cents for the period, which is about 0.7 per cent higher compared to the previous quarter. The payout will be made on May 29, 2009. Mapletree Log said the increase is largely due to lower...

Developer Keppel Land has named Choo Chiau Beng as its new chairman. Mr Choo, a director of Keppel Land since 1985, will take over from Lim Chee Onn as chairman from May 1. Paying tribute to Mr Lim, Keppel Land says the company has grown from a local property player to one of Asia's premier property developers under his leadership. Mr Lim had been a director of Keppel Land (then Straits Steamship Co...

Property developer CapitaLand believes the China market presents the best prospects in the current challenging economic climate. Speaking to shareholders at the company's annual general meeting on Thursday, CEO Liew Mun Leong said real estate is all about economic growth. And CapitaLand is hopeful that Beijing's US$585 billion stimulus package will help spur consumption there. CapitaLand is also on track...

First REIT has recorded a 2.5 per cent on-year jump in distributable income to S$5.2 million for the first quarter of 2009. The healthcare real estate investment trust attributed the increase to its resilient trust structure. It added that the distribution per unit (DPU) also rose 1.6 per cent to 1.88 Singapore cents for the three months ended March 31. First REIT said it achieved a distribution yield of...

Hopes of a quick turnaround in the property market here are fizzling out. Property consultancy DTZ said the probability of a full recovery in the Singapore property market by the end of this year is low. In a research report issued on Wednesday, DTZ predicted there is only a 0.1 per cent chance that the Singapore office rental market will recover by year-end. The residential market here is not faring...

Keppel Land reported a 38.8 per cent drop in earnings on-year for the first quarter of 2009. Net profit for the three months ended March 31 came in at some S$36.9 million. Sales for the same period fell by over 46 per cent on-year to S$145.7 million. Earnings per share also fell by 39.3 per cent to 5.1 cents. Keppel Land says the poor showing was due largely to the weak market conditions in Asia...

Mainboard-listed Ascott Residence Trust on Wednesday reported that its distribution per unit (DPU) in the first quarter fell 24 per cent on-year. For the three months ended March, Ascott Reit achieved a DPU of 1.77 cents, lower than the 2.33 cents over the same period last year. Gross profit stood at S$19.9 million, 16 per cent lower than the year-ago profit of S$23.3 million. Ascott Reit said the fall...

Singapore's property market turned in a poor showing in the first quarter as developers and home-buyers braced themselves for a prolonged downturn. But analysts said there are cash-rich individuals out there who might inject life into the Singapore market in the coming months. They said these individuals with deep pockets have been doing their homework in recent months and are now ready to close in on...