News

Expect muted gains today.

DBS outperformed OCBC and UOB with its NIM widening 9 basis points due to lower funding costs. This chart from Moody’s Investor Services showed that the NIMs for Singapore’s three big banks comprising of DBS, OCBC and UOB rose to an average 1.8% in 2018 from 1.75% in 2017. DBS outperformed the other two with its NIM widening 9 basis points because of lower funding costs, compared with 5 basis points for OCBC, and 1 basis point decline for UOB. NIMs are set to stagnate in 2019 because interest rates will not rise as steeply as they did in 2018, given worsening economic prospects, Moody’s said. “Interest rates in Singapore typically move in tandem with US interest rates, and the pace of further rate increases in the US will slow in 2019, with the Fed turning more cautions with monetary policy tightening and balance sheet reductions,” they explained, adding that stiff competition amongst banks for new mortgage financing and refinancing will deter banks from raising loan rates, which in turn will constrain NIM improvements. “Further, low-cost current account savings account (CASA) deposits at the three banks are decreasing as depositors gravitate to higher yielding fixed deposits to take advantage of rising rates,” Moody’s said. “This shift will lead to higher funding costs and weigh on NIMs.” 

It blamed the African swine fever outbreak in China and weaker commodity prices.

Nine in 10 mothers in Singapore engaged in either partial or full breastfeeding in 2018.

It was hit by its customers’ product transitions and M&A activities.

It will cover driver-partners for medical leave of up to 21 days and hospitalisation leave of up to 84 days.

It will provide maintenance services for the customer’s 160 aircrafts starting 2020.

The additional China tariff announcement delay may boost local sentiment.

Resale prices may slide further by 1-2%, whilst rents may decline by 1-3% in 2019.

And HDB revealed that more than half of 2-room flexi flats are purchased by seniors.

Slower growth in electricity and gas prices outweighed higher services inflation.

The city saw US$650m in acquisitions across four deals in 2018.

It could yield about 362,747 sqft of retail/commercial space and some 241,831 sqft of residential units. Peace Centre / Peace Mansion (PCPM) in Sophia Road is up for sale at $688m, JLL revealed. The mixed development commercial site located in the prime district 9 houses 99 retail/commercial units, 133 offices, 86 apartments and a carpark with 162 lots, totalling 319 strata lots in a 10-storey front podium block and a rear 32-storey tower. Under the 2014 Master Plan, the property has a site area of 76,617 sqft site is zoned for ‘commercial’ use and has a verified gross plot ratio (GPR) of about 7.89. The property could also be redeveloped up to a height of 55 m above mean sea level. An outline planning permission (“OPP”) from the Urban Redevelopment Authority has been obtained recently to redevelop the site up to the existing Gross Floor Area (“GFA”) of approximately 604,578 sq ft at an equivalent GPR of 7.89 for a mixed commercial and residential project. Based on the OPP, a new development comprising of 60% commercial GFA and 40% residential GFA could yield about 362,747 sqft of retail/commercial space and some 241,831 sqft of residential units (or about 240 units at an average size of 1,000 sqft, subject to relevant authority’s approval). According to JLL, more than 80% of the owners have consented to the collective sale and are expecting offers in excess of $688 million. An application for an in-principle approval for the lease top up to a fresh 99 years has also been made to the Singapore Land Authority and a reply is expected to be obtained soon. JLL noted that there is also no requirement for a Pre-Application Feasibility Study for the site based on enquiry with the Land Transport Authority (LTA). “At the owners’ minimum price of $688m, it reflects a land rate of approximately $1,474 psf ppr, before factoring in bonus balcony plot ratio for the residential component,” Tan Hong Boon, Executive Director at JLL, said. “This compares very favorably with transacted land sales in the vicinity as well as several other commercial and mixed use collective sale sites on the market now.”

The bank’s SGD loan-to-deposit ratio remains the highest amongst its peers.

It includes repair and modernisation works on 13 cruise ships.

This could help the telco which is facing a decline in its mobile customer base, marked by a 4.1% to 1.96 million in Q4.