GDP growth was revised higher, but still within the 1-3% forecast.

There are apparently three reasons why analysts think that the Monetary Authority of Singapore will be maintaining its neutral monetary policy stance come April this year.

As the SGD nominal effective exchange rate slope is 0% currently, analysts from Standard Chartered said one of the reasons is that for starters, MAS provided rare guidance in the October 2016 monetary policy statement that it would keep a neutral policy stance for an extended period.More so, the analysts noted that Singapore's GDP growth was revised higher for the past year to 2.9%, well within the government's initial forecast of 1-3%.

"The government is maintaining its modest outlook for the economy in 2017, at 1-3% growth, and is wary of downside risks," Standard Chartered analysts explained.

The last reason they cited is the forecast for Singapore's core inflation, which would likely to remain within the MAS' forecast of 1-2%, with a softer labour market mitigating the upside risk.

Home prices already saw a 3% decline in 2016.

According to Bloomberg, Singapore’s residential property curbs are set to stay in place for at least another year amid signs the city’s housing market is stabilising, the chief executive officer of Southeast Asia’s biggest developer said.

“We see volume picking up and the price declines have slowed,” Lim Ming Yan, the president and CEO of CapitaLand Ltd., said in a Bloomberg Television interview with Haslinda Amin on Wednesday. “We see this trend continuing for 2017. There is no compelling reason for the government at this point to make major changes,” to property curbs, he said.

Lim was speaking after the Singapore-based developer said net income climbed 74 percent to S$430.5 million ($303 million) in the three months ended Dec. 31. Revenue rose 7 percent to S$1.9 billion. For the year, net profit rose 12 percent to S$1.2 billion.

Read more of what Lim has to say here. 

Manufacturing and transportation would likely give the year a boost.

After the 2% full-year GDP growth of Singapore, the Ministry of Trade and Industry expects the economy is expected to grow at a modest pace of 1-3% for this year.

According to MTI, the growth will come as the US economy is projected to grow at a faster pace in 2017, supported by domestic demand and expected fiscal stimulus under the new US administration.

"Global growth is projected to pick up slightly in 2017. In particular, growth in the US and key ASEAN economies is expected to improve, even as growth in China continues to moderate," the trade ministry noted.

However, the MTI also noted of the uncertainties and downside risks in the global economy. It cited the rise in political risks and economic uncertainties. It noted that upcoming elections in key Eurozone economies may create further uncertainties regarding the future of the monetary union. There are also signs of a rise in anti-globalisation sentiments.

"These uncertainties may, in turn, weigh on business and consumer confidence, thereby dampening investments and consumption, and causing a pullback in global growth," MTI said.

Against this global backdrop, Singapore can depend on its externally-oriented sectors such as manufacturing and transportation & storage sectors for growth this year. In particular, the strong semiconductors segment and the improvement of trade flows will spur growth in the said sector.

Meanwhile, the outlook for the construction sector has weakened on the back of the drop in contracts awarded in the last two years, due to sluggish private demand. Headwinds are also against the way of some sectors such as the marine & offshore, retail and food services sector. 

Blame the lower gains from the sale of investment securities.

UOB Group, one of Singapore's banking giants, reported a 3.5% lower net profit for 2016 to $3.1b, a slightly lower amount compared to $3.21b in 2015.

This is despite the stable income at $8.06b. This is, however, was badgered by the 1.6% decline in non-interest income to $3.07b. The group's trading investment income also fell, recording an 8.1% decline to $877m due to lower gains from the sale of investment securities. This is partially offset by higher trading income. On the opposite end, fee and commission income increased 2.5% to $1.93b, driven by higher credit card and fund management fees.

Meanwhile, total expenses rose 2.8% to $3.70b from a year ago, largely from higher revenue and IT-related expenses.

"The Group was disciplined in managing total headcount and it continues to invest in technology and infrastructure to sharpen its capabilities. The expense-to-income ratio for the year was 45.9%," the group said in a statement.

UOB also noted that its total credit costs on loans were maintained at 32 basis points for the year. Specific allowance on loans increased $577m to $969m, primarily from NPL in oil and gas and shipping industries.

"Total allowance decreased 11.6% to S$594 million, due to the lower specific allowance on other assets and a release in general allowance. The Group’s general allowance remained strong at $2.7b at the end of the year. The ratio of general allowance to gross loans stood at 1.2%," the bank said.

For their 4Q16 performance, here's what UOB has to say:

The Group reported net earnings of S$739 million in 4Q16, 6.2% lower than 4Q15.

Net interest income remained stable at S$1.28 billion as the strong loan growth was offset by a 10 basis point decrease in net interest margin to 1.69%.

Non-interest income decreased 6.3% to S$753 million in 4Q16, driven by lower trading and investment income. However, fee and commission income grew 10.6% to S$531 million, contributed by higher credit card and wealth management fees.

Total expenses for 4Q16 were S$957 million, largely flat compared with a year ago.

Specific allowance on loans increased S$313 million to S$428 million due to NPL in the oil and gas and shipping industries. Total allowance decreased 31.4% to S$131 million in 4Q16, due to lower specific allowance on other assets and a release in general allowance.  

Despite the slower pace of auto sales.

It would seem like the motor vehicles segment failed to buoy Singapore retail sales in December. Good thing, other segments posted modest growth.

For the said month, overall retail sales were up 0.4% YoY, primarily driven by the 9.9% growth in medical goods & toiletries.

Retail sales' constant booster, the motor vehicles segment, only contributed a measly 0.9% growth in the said month. On a quarterly basis, it slumped 11.9%, dragging MoM growth to -1.9%.

Retail sales in department stores, food and beverage, petrol services, wearing apparel, watches and jewellery, and computer and technology equipment were also in a slump recording 0.3% to 9.0% declines.

The total retail sales value in December was estimated at $4.2b. 

It went down from its peak in April 2016.

Resale transactions have seen an increase in the past eight months, starting in March 2016 with around 600 units resold. From there, resale transactions hovered over 600 units, peaking at May 2016 with around 800 units sold.

However, in January 2017, resales were down 439 units, 23% down from 573.

According to SRX Property data, non-landed Private Residential Resale prices increased by 1.1% in January 2017 compared to December 2016. In individual sectors, CCR, RCR and OCR recorded a price increase of 1.9%, 1.5% and 0.4%, respectively.

This came as resale volume increased 9.1%, with an estimated 526 Non-landed Private Residential units sold in January. This is compared to 482 units resold in December. 

This was despite the lack of new launches in the said month.

Developers have managed to sell a total of 381 private residential units in the past month compared to 322 units in the same month last year. The number excludes EC sales.

According to PropNex, this marked an 18.3% increase from last year, reflecting the greater confidence and activities by buyers despite the lack of new launches in January.

The 108 units launched in January was the lowest number in the past year. This is mainly due to developers timing their project launches, preferring to wait after the Chinese New Year (CNY) celebrations

Including ECs developers recorded a sale volume of 565 units, down from the 580 units in the past month but higher than the 480 units recorded in the same month last year.

One involves the new telco.

After an uneventful quarter for Singtel, it will could potentially face two major catalysts this year.

According to Maybank KimEng, a potential negative catalyst will be the General Spectrum Auction, as the new telco TPG could certainly raise the level of market competition.

"We have currently assumed spectrum payouts of $135m for Singtel and $105m each for M1 and StarHub," the firm said.

On the flip side, a government-mandated IPO for NetLink Trust by April 2018 could potentially boost an upside for Singtel, as this could mean potential capital returns to shareholders.

However, it is still early to call, Maybank said, as the IPO process have just gotten underway.

Only if the terms and conditions are right, says tourism chief.

According to a report from Bloomberg, Singapore is still interested in hosting the Formula One race if the terms are right, and discussions on keeping the event in the Southeast Asian nation are under way, according to the Singapore Tourism Board.

"I think the event is still a good one and I think it’s something we’re interested to look at provided the terms and conditions are right," Lionel Yeo, chief executive officer at Singapore Tourism Board, told Bloomberg Television’s Haslinda Amin Tuesday, when asked if hosting the event makes sense. “The discussions are still ongoing."

Then-Formula One head honcho Bernie Ecclestone suggested the Singapore Grand Prix wouldn’t be extended when the five-year deal expires this year, Today newspaper reported in November, citing an interview with German magazine Auto Motor Und Sport. The F1 has since been taken over by Liberty Media Corp.

Read more here.

Operating conditions are poised to deteriorate as private hire cars increase.

Even with ComfortDelGro's good performance in its taxi segment for the past year, there is no stopping the deterioration the whole taxi industry will be subject to this year.

According to UOB KayHian, ComfortDelGro's utilisation of 98.6% seen in 2016 could slump further this year as operating conditions deteriorate. UOB argued that the supply of private hire cars are increasing, leading to
pressure on taxi rentals.

"Peers such as SMRT are already offering flexible hours rental schemes for taxis at lower rates. CD has implemented revenue sharing schemes since Nov 16 and we think this could eventually result in an overall reduction in average taxi rental," UOB noted.

With this, UOB reduced its net profit forecast for ComfortDelGro taxis by 7 to 10%.

"Looking ahead, we have reduced our assumptions on fleet growth (0% vs 1.5% previously in 2017), taxi rental (-2.5%) as well as a lower utilisation rate (to 97% vs 99% previously) to reflect the concerns discussed above," the firm explained.  

With more than 70% of consumers shopping online, they battle it out to win customers.

Amazon, the world’s biggest online retailer, will soon enter Singapore’s e-commerce scene. But with a number of established players already successful in their niche, how are each of them adapting and upping their game?

It was five years ago when one of Singapore’s first fashion retailer Zalora hung out its shingle with just 20 people crammed into a small office space and a dream to sell clothes online. Since then, the Kinnevik backed-company has raised over $365m and now has 350 employees in Singapore and over 1,500 staff spread across its regional offices in Southeast Asia. 

From Left to Right: Jaime Ng, Bruno Tay, and Haran S. Pranatharthi

Zalora chief marketing officer Tito Costa tells Singapore Business Review that a typical ZALORA user spends 50 minutes a month on the app, which has been downloaded over 10 million times so far. “Strategically, ZALORA is preparing for a ‘mobile-only’ market,” Costa says, noting how consumers are now expecting retailers to know what their preferences are.

“By putting customer and behavioural data to work, we are able to recognise individual shoppers when they land on ZALORA, and deliver tailor-made experiences and recommendations in real time, providing them with a more meaningful and relevant online shopping experience,” he adds.

But while more than half of Zalora’s orders come from mobile, the company found it needed to adopt a physical store presence in new cities to drive marketing. “A second trend that we see is that the experimentation of traditional retailers with online shopping and vice-versa online players are testing pop-up stores and digital showroom concepts, may lead to a convergence towards a new omnichannel digital-first retail, putting together the best of the two worlds for an optimal customer experience. In our view, the lack of pre-existing retail infrastructure in many Asian geographies will make this convergence process faster than it was in Europe or the US,” Costa explains.

Tito Costa and Prashant Dadlani

Mastering retail omnipresence

In 2014, Zalora launched its flagship store at ION Orchard. Costa notes that one of the benefits of such set-up is that many consumers are able to try on pieces they saw online. “We saw that a majority of sales at our pop-up stores, up to 60%, were new Zalora customers,” he states.

Costa notes one of the qualms from online customers is that they are unable to physically test out the products before they place their orders, resulting in a different product expectation as well as high return rates.

Online retailing is also a game of scale with Zalora selling off its underperforming units in Thailand and Vietnam. And certainly, even five years into its growth, it's still a business that requires deep pockets and investment, with Zalora’s revenue reportedly rising 78% to US$234m in 2015 but its net loss increasing 36% $105m.

Prashant Dadlani, founder of retail logistics start-up blu, agrees that consumers go through a different journey now compared to when the early hype was seen in the e-commerce landscape. And although more than 70% of consumers shop online at least once a month according to Visa's Consumer Payment Attitudes Survey, it is wrong to say that e-commerce is slowly dominating retail. He points out that pitting e-tailers to traditional brick and mortar stores perpetuates the wrong notion and ignores the reality that there exists seamlessness across retail channels.

Zalora's pop-up store at ION Orchard

"The journey is much more multi-dimensional now, so retailers have to be prepared to be present at every touchpoint," he says. And as the market gets a lot more crowded with Amazon’s plans of setting up its base in Singapore, the challenge is for local e-commerce players to up their game.

George Pepes, vertical solutions and marketing lead retail at Zebra Technologies, says retailers who want to succeed in this era must master the concept of omnipresence. He cites Amazon.com, which despite starting out a digital store has now ventured to offer real-world experience.

"Besides the opening of physical stores to sell its books, Amazon also has plans to open grocery stores that provide a range of services within the confines of brick-and-mortar. Singapore has recently also experienced a spate of flagship store openings – from the likes of American lingerie brand Victoria’s Secret to Japanese casual wear brand Uniqlo," he says, "This is why today’s consumers are gravitating to stores using the latest technology and offering conveniences ranging from buying online, pickup in-store options to mobile checkout.”

Online-grocer RedMart utilises the strategy quite differently to Zalora. RedMart head of marketing Jaime Ng explained how they use traditional marketing to attract more buyers. “Apart from doing everything that is digital, we also believe there is a need to connect with offline shoppers. So we do a lot of flyering where we actually distribute flyers to the neighbourhood and we've seen a good traction around that,” Ng notes.

The retailing market is also starting to consolidate ahead of Amazon’s move into Singapore. In November 2016 Lazada was reportedly in talks in acquiring RedMart for about $30m to $40m, after the latter run into financing problems. In a statement, RedMart stressed that the transaction is set to help it expand into new product categories faster while it continues to be independent of Lazada. Lazada itself was acquired by Alibaba, which is of a scale large enough to fend off Amazon.

Leveraging on big data tech

But for all e-tailers, SAP Hybris head of business Haran Pranatharthi says there is no stopping the e-commerce boom in Singapore. Citing a report by Temasek and Google, he mentions that the e-commerce market in the region is expected to be worth US$5.4b by 2025, with online transactions making up 6.7% of all retail sales.

RedMart's delivery workers

This figure compares with just US$1b in sales and a 2.1% market share in 2015. The online retail space is projected to have a 10-year compound annual growth rate of 18%.

"That is a staggering 6.5x increase over 10 years. It isn’t hard to see why, though, barriers to entry are relatively low. Online marketplaces such as eBay and Amazon allow anyone to set up a simple online shop and sell products within minutes. At the same time, an online store allows retailers to expand their customer pool, potentially reaching customers miles – or even continents – away," he says.

The true gem in this, he points out, comes from the sheer amount of data retailers can potentially collect. Online stores can now take note of their customers' buying habits.

For loyalty marketing company ICLP Singapore, country manager Bruno Tay reckons this could turn out as a great tool, considering that retailers can now leverage on Big Data strategically to gain insights that allow brands to serve their customers better.

"Indeed, as we move into 2017, there will likely be much closer interaction between traditional retail initiatives like discounts and promotions with technological innovations. This convergence is the next frontier in the retail market," he says.

RedMart’s Ng reveals that big data helps RedMart improve its logistics supply chain. More than allowing them to study consumer buying patterns, the big data technology also helped them to predict when products will be sold out to how many days before they run out of a particular item. “This reduces wastage of time and orders, and it actually controls the efficiency of operations. We are able to cater to more of their needs, opening up new range which therefore we are able to understand each consumer pattern,” she adds.

Tay also suggests that retailers can shape up their offerings as they cultivate loyalty within its customer base. He notes how rewards are crucial in this regard, as 75% of consumers are likely to buy more if they are rewarded.

"This means that increasingly, the experience of accruing points for run-of-the-mill rewards is no longer good enough. There will be an expectation for retailers and brands to explore more creative forms of rewards that truly take into account their customers’ interests and needs," he concludes.
 

It placed 6th last year.

It may seem like Singapore is losing its steam amongst the other student city peers, as the latest QS Best Student Cities revealed.

The rankings, released by global higher education analysts QS Quacquarelli Symonds, compilers of the QS World University Rankings, saw Paris lose the number-one position for the first time since the ranking began in 2012. Montreal replaces it at the top of the list, which ranks the world’s top 100 cities.

After placing sixth last year, Singapore ranked 14th on the list this year. According to QS, it ranked 11th globally in the Employer Activity indicator, which measures the likelihood of employers to seek to hire graduates from a city’s universities, 15th globally for Desirability, and 20th globally for Student Mix or diversity. Meanwhile, it ranked 7th globally in the Ranking indicator, which measures the number of top-ranked universities and their position in the ranking. These are excellent results despite the slight drop in all bar one of these four indicators.

However, Singapore drops significantly in the Affordability indicator where it falls 38 places compared to last year’s result. It now ranks 90 out of 125 cities in this indicator. In the new Student View indicator, Singapore ranks 31st globally. QS’s Student View indicator is based on the survey responses of 18,000 students worldwide. Students were asked to name the city in which they would most like to study, their experience studying in a particular city, and their intention to remain there post-graduation

Amongst the cities in Asia, Singapore ranks fourth, behind Seoul (4th globally), Tokyo (7th globally) and Hong Kong (11th globally).

For January, prices were down 6.8% from the recent peak in 2014.

Non-landed private residential resale prices are on the uptrend in January, up by 1.1% compared to December 2016. For the past year, prices peaked in June and went downhill until October.

November started the uptrend leading up to January this year, with prices up 0.3% YoY compared to last year.  In individual sectors, RCR and OCR recorded a YoY price decrease of 0.1% and 1.1% respectively. On the other hand, CCR posted a YoY price increase of 2.7%.

From the recent peak in January 2014, January 2017 prices were down by 6.8%

And here are four things you may not know about credit card eligibility.

Singapore's international visitor arrivals rose 7.7 percent last year to a record 16.4 million, helped by more travellers from China, India and Indonesia, but the tourism board forecast a slower pace of growth for 2017. Tourism receipts rose 13.9 percent to an all-time high of S$24.8 billion, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) said, based on preliminary estimates. Arrivals last year accelerated from an increase of around 1 percent in 2015. The tourism figures exceeded the STB's forecast for 2016. Read more here.

Shares in troubled commodities trader Noble Group soared Tuesday, its biggest rise in more than a year, after the company said it was in talks with a strategic investor. Singapore-listed Noble said in a statement to the stock exchange that it is "currently engaged in discussions regarding a possible strategic investment" in the firm. It did not name the company but people familiar with the talks identified the potential investor as China's Sinochem Group, Bloomberg News reported. Click here for the full story.

As shocking as this might sound, clever use of credit cards can really help us save money. But if you are new to the world of credit cards, it is best that you consider these things before getting your first credit card. Being responsible and accountable is paramount to making sure that you don't rack up credit card debts that you cannot possibly handle. In this link are some interesting insights regarding credit card eligibility that you may not be aware of.

A total of 4,056 were launched in February BTO exercise.

The Housing and Development Board unveiled the first batch of the 17,000 flats to be launched this year. For the month of February, a total of 4,056 flats is put up for grabs under the Build-To-Order (BTO) exercise.

These flats are spread across six projects in Punggol, Clementi and Tampines, and range from a two-room Flexi to three-generation flats. Prices for the two-room flexi flat start at $81,000 at Waterway Sunrise II and Northshore Cove in Punggol. Meanwhile, the prices for the five-room units at Clementi start at $571,000.

Applications for the said flats can be submitted online until February 20.

It will be headed by a machine learning expert.

As part of its efforts in pushing for a digital economy, the Monetary Authority of Singapore announced the formation of the Data Analytics Group, which will commence its operations on March 15.

The newly-formed group will lead MAS’ efforts to harness the power of data analytics to unlock insights, enhance the supervision of financial institutions, make regulatory compliance more efficient for financial institutions, and improve work efficiency across the organisation. It has appointed Dr David Roi Hardoon as its Chief Data Officer and Head of DAG.

Dr Hardoon joins MAS from Azendian Solutions, where he was the co-founder and Executive Director, Chief of Analytics. He has a PhD in machine learning, as well as a deep research background and extensive experience in developing and applying analytical models. He will report to Mr Ong Chong Tee, Deputy Managing Director.

MAS managing director Ravi Menon said the digitisation of information and the harnessing of data from multiple platforms have created the opportunity to use data analytics to understand the economy and the financial system with a depth that was not possible before.

"MAS is committed to building strong capabilities in data analytics to seize this opportunity. Our new Data Analytics Group will work with the financial industry to sharpen the surveillance of risks, and with the various departments within MAS to transform the way we do our work," he stressed.

The group will comprise three units, each with its own functions:

While resale volume surge 9.1%.

According to SRX Property data, non-landed Private Residential Resale prices increased by 1.1% in January 2017 compared to December 2016. In individual sectors, CCR, RCR and OCR recorded a price increase of 1.9%, 1.5% and 0.4%, respectively.

This came as resale volume increased 9.1%, with an estimated 526 Non-landed Private Residential units sold in January. This is compared to 482 units resold in December.

On a yearly basis, prices in January 2017 increased by 0.3% from January 2016. In individual sectors, RCR and OCR recorded a year-on-year price decrease of 0.1% and 1.1% respectively. On the other hand, CCR posted a year-on-year price increase of 2.7%. The prices this month were down by 6.8% from the recent peak in January 2014.

In terms of resale volume, the increase was 29% higher than last year. However, it was down by 74.3% compared to its peak of 2,050 units resold in April 2010.