CLCT Posts 30% Rise in Property Income and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

In today’s roundup of regional news headlines, CapitaLand China Trust reports a sharp rise in first-quarter earnings, the final battle takes shape among bidders for IFC Seoul, and a Chinatown asset could break the record for Singapore’s biggest-ever shophouse transaction.

CapitaLand China Trust Posts 30% Rise in Property Income

CapitaLand China Trust posted a 30.4 percent year-on-year rise in net property income during the first quarter to RMB 344.5 million (now $52.7 million).

This was due to full contributions from the REIT’s business parks portfolio as well as new contributions from its logistics parks portfolio, the trust’s manager said Tuesday in a bourse filing. Read more>>

Shinsegae, IGIS Bolster Tie-Ups to Bid for IFC Seoul

South Korean retail giant Shinsegae Group has joined forces with IGIS Asset Management to bid for International Finance Center Seoul, which is expected to be this year’s prominent real estate deal in the country.

A consortium of Shinsegae and IGIS Asset is competing with the other final bidder, Mirae Asset Management, to buy the three-tower complex, estimated at over KRW 4 trillion ($3.3 billion), from Brookfield Asset Management. Read more>>

APG Boosts Real Estate Team as It Targets Asian Logistics

Dutch fund manager APG has expanded its headcount in Asia and is looking to build on a major recent logistics allocation in the region as it expands beyond core developed markets via its favoured investment model of partnering with operators.

“Outperformance in real estate will require an understanding of, and exposure to, the operations of this asset class, hence we tend to have a bias towards partnering with operators wherever possible,” Graeme Torre, APG’s head of private real estate for Asia Pacific, told AsianInvestor. Read more>>

Chinatown Shophouses, Orchard Road Project on the Market in Singapore

A block of seven adjoining three-storey conservation shophouses in Chinatown and a prime freehold site near Orchard Road have been put on the market for S$110 million and S$76 million respectively.

If sold at S$110 million ($80 million), the Chinatown asset will break the record for the largest shophouse transaction in Singapore, currently held by Porcelain Hotel at S$90 million, exclusive marketing agent CBRE said Monday. Read more>>

Mainland China Property Companies Pull Back in Hong Kong

Mainland Chinese property companies are scaling back their presence in Hong Kong as they struggle to deal with a liquidity crisis that has rocked the sector and forced the world’s most indebted developer Evergrande to default.

Cash-strapped property company Kaisa, the Chinese sector’s second-biggest offshore bond issuer after Evergrande, sold an entire floor at The Center, a prime office tower in Hong Kong’s central district in December. Read more>>

Singapore’s JTC Launches Sale of Tampines Industrial Sites

JTC on Tuesday launched two sites in Singapore’s Tampines area under the Industrial Government Land Sales programme.

The site located at Plot 10 Tampines North Drive 5 is the second of three parcels that are on the confirmed list for the first half of the 2022 IGLS Programme. The land plot, which has a 20-year tenure, spans 0.5 hectares (1.2 acres). It has a gross plot ratio of 2.5 and is zoned B2 for heavy industrial use. Read more>>

China Builder Bonds Diverge as Offshore Creditors Lose Most

A record rout in dollar bonds from China’s distressed developers is leaving international investors in the cold, even as local creditors find solace.

Examples of the divergence abound. Dollar notes from builders including Yuzhou Group and Shimao Group have plunged this year, even as onshore bonds have fallen less or gained. Onshore holders have received coupon payments or sweetened offers on extension proposals while offshore payments go missed. A case also emerged recently that flagged risks whether money owed in a restructuring would be able to leave the country. Read more>>

China’s Central Bank Huddles With Developers on Sector Recovery

Several Chinese property developers attended talks with China’s central bank last week to discuss the sale of distressed assets and other ways to support a real estate industry that has been battered by defaults, sources familiar with the matter said.

The central bank said last week that it had held discussions with banks and asset management firms to discuss support for the economy and property sector, but it had not indicated that property developers had also been invited. Read more>>

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