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Improving office and retail market could boost Mapletree Commercial Trust

Improving office and retail market could boost Mapletree Commercial Trust

It saw a continuous growth in DPU. Improving office rents and retail sentiment in Singapore could unburden investors of the fear that Mapletree Commercial Trust may not be able to counter the impact of higher interest rates, DBS Equity Research said. “As investors acknowledge this fact, MCT’s share price should outperform,” they commented. Moreover, they noted MCT’s ability to deliver consistent growth in distribution per unit (DPU), highlighting the quality of its assets. However, DBS Equity Research noted that a key risk could be a retail sales slowdown which could hit VivoCity’s ability to hike its rents. Another key risk is a slower-than expected pick-up in office/business park rents, DBS Equity Research noted. In Q2, MCT’s NPI grew to $86.26m, up 2.2% YoY from $84.42m to $86.26m, an announcement revealed. Revenue also inched up 2.5% YoY to $109.92m.  

Retrenchments fall in Q3 as employment growth doubles

However, unemployment rates inched up slightly from 2% to 2.1%.

CapitaLand Mall Trust's DPU could rise in 2019 as major projects finish

The $789.6m purchase price for Westgate implies a property yield of 4.3% or $2,746 psf.

Singapore manufacturing shrank 0.2% in September

All clusters contracted except for transport engineering and precision engineering clusters.

Grab's prepaid cards goes up against payment giants Tencent and Alibaba

But its link with MasterCard would be its boon in the field, analysts said.

HDB resale applications jumped 21.6% to 7,063 in Q3

Transactions for HDB four-room were highest with 2,828 units involved.

Office rentals rose 2.5% amidst rent increase in Q3

Vacancy rates dropped 0.2% despite the 28,000 sqm net lettable area increase in the stock of office rentals.

Retail rentals fell 1.2% in Q3 as prices kicked up a notch

Retail rent prices increased 0.3% amidst a 26,000 sqm net lettable area decrease in the amount of retail occupancies.

Private home prices moderate to 0.5% growth in Q3

Private condo prices in the CCR rose 1.3%.

Mapletree Commercial Trust NPI up 2.2% to $86.26m in Q2

Gains were backed by higher contributions from VivoCity, MBC I, and MLHF.

Ascendas REIT NPI slipped 1% to $158.9m in Q2

The dip was caused by a one-off reversal of accrued operating expense last year.

UOB profits up 17% to $1.04b in Q3

Net interest income drove earnings up and sharply grew by 14% to $1.6b.

Uber's Lion City Rentals unveils 1-week car rentals

It is rebranding its services to attract more types of drivers.

Sembcorp Marine sank into a $29.76m loss in Q3

It blamed continued low overall business volume.

CapitaLand Commercial Trust NPI climbed 37.3% to $80.40m in Q3

Thanks to contributions from Asia Square Tower 2 and Gallileo which were acquired in November 2017 and June 2018.

CDL buys London office for $687m

It has a net lettable area of 329,200 sq ft with 26 floors.