Singapore
Wired Daily
Page 2
raised after rolling forward valuation base to FY13. Our
TP for UOB and OCBC are now at S$21.00 and S$11.00
respectively. Our preference remains with OCBC (Buy). At
current levels, we see limited upside for UOB (Hold).
Moody's Investors Service has downgraded SingTel's
senior unsecured rating and notes to Aa3 from Aa2 while
its rating outlook remains stable, citing a weakening in
key financial parameters over the last year.
Cordlife Group has entered into an agreement to acquire
10% of China Cord Blood Corporation (CCBC) for
approximately US$20.8m. The acquisition is in line with
Cordlife’s strategy to expand its geographical reach in
China to beyond the Guangdong province. At the same
time, Cordlife Group is disposing its 10% stake in China
Stem Cells (South) for US$16.8m, an excess of
approximately S$4.6m over the net asset value as of 31
March 2012.
Otto Marine has secured a time-charter contract for its
Maintenance and Construction/Accommodation
support vessel, Seasafe Supporter, for a firm 500 days
with an option to extend for 2 months. The contract is
expected to generate about US$10.0m for the minimum
scheduled period of the charter.
July 2012 operating results for SIA. SIA recorded 3.2% yo-
y growth in systemwide passenger carriage
while capacity increased by 4.7%. Consequently,
passenger load factor (PLF) fell by 1.1 percentage points
to 80.5%. The number of passengers carried increased by
2.7% y-o-y. Load factors softened across all regions
except for Americas which saw strong summer travel
demand. East Asia region registered the highest decline,
as capacity expansion outpaced the growth in passenger
carriage. Promotional efforts undertaken to boost
carriage will continue to put pressure on passenger yields.
Overall cargo traffic was 3.0% lower y-o-y, while cargo
capacity decreased by 0.1%. Consequently, cargo load
factor (CLF) in July 2012 fell by 2.0 percentage points.
CLF decreased year-on-year for all regions, except for
South West Pacific and West Asia & Africa. Cargo load
factor for the East Asia region declined by 8.1 percentage
points as traffic demand was weak and did not match
capacity.
July home sales climbed 19.8% m-o-m to 2,067 units
after a brief pause in May/June. Excluding ECs, home
sales rose by a strong 41.7% to 1,943 units. While the
market continues to be driven by the mass market
segment where 78% of total new sales were in OCR,
response was mixed for new launches with better located
developments enjoying brisker take-up rates. While sales
momentum could slow ahead of the Hungry Ghost
Month, we expect take-up for the year to remain fairly
robust amid a low interest rate and ample liquidity
environment. However, price momentum would continue
to be moderate with buyers in the low-end segment
showing more resistance to price hikes as well as demand
in this segment becoming more sated. We continue to
prefer non-residential and diversified plays like
Capitaland, CapitaMalls Asia and Global Logistic
Properties.
Dragged down by motor vehicles, retail sales for the
month of June slipped 0.9% y-o-y. Excluding motor
vehicles, retail sales were up 2.3%. Meanwhile, sales
(seasonally adjusted) dipped 0.4% in June compared to
the previous month but were up 1.9% (excluding motor
vehicles) m-o-m. For the month of June, retailers of motor
vehicles saw sales slump by 10.8% y-o-y. Other retail
categories which reported declines during the month
were watches & jewellery as well as optical goods &
books, as sales decreased by 9.2% and 1.1% respectively.
On the other hand, double-digit growth was reported by
retailers of medical goods & toiletries,
telecommunications apparatus & computers and
supermarkets as they registered increases of 17.8%,
11.6% and 10.7% respectively.
In property news, Kovan Lodge - one of the last few older
freehold blocks on Kovan Road - was put up for sale by
tender at an indicative asking price of $31m, or $802 psf
ppr. Comprising a total land area of 27,090 square feet,
the site is said to have the potential to be redeveloped
into a much bigger residential development.