Bank letting small investors get a big piece of the action, say sources

By Grace Ng, Finance Correspondent

NOT LEFT OUT: OCBC’s preference share offer is likely to come with a lower dividend rate than the DBS securities. However, sources say retail investors will be able to take up OCBC’s offer. DBS’ recent $1.5 billion preference share issue was open only to institutional investors. — BT FILE PHOTO

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New homes, rising vacancy rates, unsold condos and fewer rental deals cited as reasons

By Fiona Chan, Property Reporter

ST GRAPHICS ILLUSTRATION: ISTOCKPHOTO THE slowdown in the Singapore housing market has prompted two banks to predict a dramatic plunge in home values in the next two years.In two starkly bearish reports, Barclays Capital and Credit Suisse have forecast drops of up to 40 per cent in home rents and prices, as demand and supply dynamics move in favour of buyers.

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ZURICH - THE end of the global credit crisis is getting closer and the United States real estate market should recover in the second half of the year, Deutsche Bank chief executive (CEO) Josef Ackermann said in a newspaper interview.

‘I think that we are getting closer to the end of the financial crisis,’ he told the Swiss Sunday newspaper SonntagsBlick. ‘It is not fully over yet, but the signs from the US are encouraging.’

He said the pragmatic approach being taken in the US to resolve the crisis should start to pay off soon.

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RESIDENTS in Punggol will have a new shopping mall and more fellow residents within the next three years.

The new town, which already has 16,700 flats, has another 2,100 being built now.

The Housing Board also recently launched 1,700 flats and will launch another 4,000 by year’s end, said National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan last Saturday at the launch of a two-day exhibition on the progress in Punggol.

He added that, with more residents calling Punggol home, it would become feasible to build more commercial and public facilities.

One being planned is a shopping mall about the size of Junction 8 in Bishan.

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Earnings set to stay in doldrums, with single-digit gains projected By Alvin Foo

THOSE golden days of strong double-digit earnings growth may be over for now, but it is hardly gloom and doom for corporate Singapore.

First-quarter results of locally listed companies showed a rise in profits of just 11.2 per cent - small change compared with last year’s big numbers.

And it is not likely to change much soon, with analysts warning that corporate earnings may stay in the doldrums for some time yet.

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Number of foreign purchases fall; many buying homes in suburban areas By Fiona Chan, Property Reporter

HIGH-END homes have become the first to buckle under the pressure of volatile market conditions and gloomy buyer sentiment.

Prices of luxury developments dipped in the first three months of this year, even as foreign buyers - a traditional source of demand for such properties - turned to cheaper options.

A report by property firm Savills Singapore released yesterday showed that prices of expensive homes fell 2.1 per cent in the first quarter, after a steady 21/2-year climb that saw values more than double.

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Hour-long talks with Libya’s leader focus on direction of its economy

By Chua Lee Hoong, Political Editor

LEADERS’ EXCHANGE: Mr Goh meeting Colonel Gaddafi at the Aziziya Barracks yesterday. SM Goh said he found the Libyan leader introspective, astute and concerned about his nation’s problems. — PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO IN TRIPOLI - SENIOR Minister Goh Chok Tong ‘had a good conversation’ with Libya’s leader, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, here yesterday.The one-hour meeting took place in an air-conditioned white tent at the Aziziya Barracks, a heavily guarded compound which is about a 15-minute drive from the city centre.

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THE Government will tender out more than $8 billion worth of projects

over the next 12 months - more than double last year’s budget and the

largest amount in recent years.

The lion’s share - about $5.8 billion - will be used for building and

construction works, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said yesterday. The

rest will be earmarked for buying goods and services and information

technology.

This is the most the Government has spent since it started releasing

its yearly pre-procurement plans in 2003. These plans, which outline

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LOOKING for a silver lining when nothing looms but storm clouds may

seem a futile exercise.

But recent events surrounding the failed collective sales of Tulip

Garden and Makeway View to Bravo Building Construction may just be a

ray of hope in an increasingly gloomy property market.

To be sure, when Bravo decided it could no longer proceed with the

collective-sale deals, some considered it yet another in a series of

ominous events signalling the end of ‘irrational exuberance’

in the property market

here.

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Asia’s retail and hospitality sectors are expected to benefit from strong growth in intra-regional travel, reports UMA SHANKARI DEVELOPERS are investing in the retail and hospitality sectors in Singapore and the rest of Asia in a big way, banking on an expected surge in retail spending and tourism. Consumer spending in the region is supported by rising income levels that are translating into retail sales and the development of the shopping scene into something closer to that in the US and Europe. One clear sign of positive retail sentiment is that many international and luxury brands are expanding into major retail hubs across Asia, CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) points out.Some of the world’s biggest names, including Bulgari and Giorgio Armani, unveiled flagship stores in Tokyo in the fourth quarter of 2007 - despite Japan’s overall sluggish economic recovery.

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