In today’s roundup of regional news headlines, Singapore sovereign investor GIC eyes an investment in a Bengaluru commercial project, China’s declining home prices decelerate for a second month, and Australia’s Lendlease tumbles to a first-half loss as the developer seeks to cut costs.
GIC to Invest $376M in Bengaluru’s Bhartiya City
Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, GIC, is in talks with the Bhartiya Group to invest INR 2,800 crore ($376 million) in a Bengaluru office project built by the Indian developer.
The deal will see GIC pick up 3 million square feet (278,709 square metres) of commercial assets in Bhartiya City, a 125 acre (50.6 hectare) township project, from the builder, along with some revenue from its facility management business. Read more>>
China Home Price Declines Slow as Govt Boosts Market
China’s home price declines eased for a second month in January, offering a rare glimmer of hope to the embattled property sector.
New home prices in 70 cities, excluding state-subsidised housing, fell 0.04 percent last month from December, when they dropped 0.28 percent, National Bureau of Statistics figures showed. Prices in large cities rose. Read more>>
China REITs Climb as Housing Market Stumbles
China’s nascent REIT project looks well placed to continue its market-beating run as a renewed infrastructure push adds to its appeal.
An equal-weighted basket of 11 REITs backed by assets ranging from industrial parks to highways has surged 88 percent since its inception last year and is up 16 percent since 1 January. Read more>>
Flurry of Japanese Asset Sales as COVID-Hit Firms Shore Up Books
Japanese railway giant Seibu Holdings struck a deal to sell part of its hospitality portfolio to Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC this month, becoming the latest in a series of companies to recently offload their secondary assets.
This trend has been particularly acute in sectors that are hit the hardest by the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, such as transport. Read more>>
India’s REIT Successes Seen Driving New Listings
Colliers expects more REITs to be formed in India’s nascent market after the robust performance of their listed peers in the country.
“We expect a lot more REITs to happen over the next one year given that all REITs have done well in spite of uncertainties,” Ramesh Nair, chief executive of the property consultancy’s Indian operations, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “Going forward, there would also be industrial and retail REITs, while office REITs will continue.” Read more>>
Lendlease Plunges to Loss on Weak Development, Construction
Plummeting development and construction earnings have pushed Lendlease to a net after-tax loss of A$264 million ($190 million) in a tough first half that the diversified developer and investor says will be a trough and a reset, as it cuts costs under new chief executive Tony Lombardo.
The swing to loss from a A$196 million profit a year earlier reflected the halving of lot settlements to 504 in its residential communities business, a three-quarter reduction in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation at its commercial urban business to A$45 million and a 19 percent drop in construction EBITDA, largely due to COVID-19 effects on work at its US operations. Read more>>
FLCT: Logistics Property Demand to Slow as Pandemic Stabilises
Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust expects demand for logistics and industrial properties to continue to grow, but at a slower pace, according to minutes of the annual general meeting filed to the SGX on Friday.
According to the minutes, Robert Stuart Claude Wallace, CEO of the trust’s manager, said FLCT is seeing good occupier demand for its industrial properties, which it expects to continue amid a general trend towards e-commerce. The statement was in response to a unitholder question. Read more>>
CICT Issues HK$900M in Notes to Finance Green Projects
CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust on Friday said it had issued, via a subsidiary, HK$900 million ($115.4 million) in 2.95 percent fixed-rate notes due in 2031 to finance green projects.
Under the offering, CICT entered into swap transactions to swap the Hong Kong dollar proceeds into Singapore dollar proceeds of S$155.2 million ($115.3 million) at a Singapore dollar fixed interest rate of 2.715 percent, the trust said in a filing with the SGX. Read more>>
Tune in again soon for more real estate news and be sure to follow @Mingtiandi on Twitter, or bookmark Mingtiandi’s LinkedIn page for headlines as they happen.
Leave a Reply