Wing Tai chairman Wai Keung Cheng aced his latest finance test
Singapore leads today’s news roundup with homegrown developers Wing Tai and Perennial Real Estate announcing huge profit swings in the previous quarter. Also in the Lion City, US pharma giant Johnson & Johnson is launching its new Asia Pacific head office in the Singapore Science Park research and development hub, and in South Korea Lotte Group is looking to speed up the IPO process for its subsidiary Hotel Lotte, which runs 17 hotels in the country as well as Manhattan’s Lotte New York Palace. And you’ll never look at lampposts the same way after reading the below.
Wing Tai Sees Ninefold Increase in Net Profit in Q3
Property and retail group Wing Tai Holdings posted a net profit of S$68.2 million for the third quarter ended March 31, a more than ninefold increase on the S$7.4 million earned in the year-ago period, on the back of an increase in profits earned by its associated and joint venture companies.
Earnings per share rocketed to 10.9 Singapore cents from 1.37 Singapore cents in the previous year. However, for the three months ended March 31, revenue shrank 4.3 per cent from S$73.5 million in Q1 2017 to S$70.3 million. Read more>>
Johnson & Johnson Launches New Asia HQ in Singapore
Global healthcare company Johnson & Johnson officially opened its new Asia-Pacific headquarters here yesterday. The 15,800 square metre facility is intended to foster collaboration and partnerships to co-create new global healthcare models that are at the forefront of innovation.
It will also bring together over 1,000 employees from areas such as pharmaceuticals, medical devices and consumer businesses to spearhead new ideas and frameworks. The centre at Science Park has a design lab, the firm’s first outside the United States, and a leadership lab to create links with universities, research groups, governments, healthcare organisations and other partners for co-creation projects. Read more>>
Perennial Real Estate’s Profit Plunges 86.7% in Q1
Perennial Real Estate Holdings’ (PREH) net profit in the first quarter of 2018 crashed 86.7 percent to S$5.14 million from S$38.66 million last year. According to its financial statement, revenue fell 26.1 percent to S$14.95 million from S$20.23 million last year as the company lost revenue from TripleOne Somerset. This followed PREH’s divestment of a 20.2 percent equity stake on March 2017.
“The Group continues its strategy of strata sales and asset enhancement on AXA Tower and TripleOne Somerset,” PREH said. “It is also actively seeking opportunities to grow the Singapore portfolio through acquisitions or participation in land tenders.” Read more>>
Lotte Group Vice Chairman Eyes Hotel Lotte IPO
Lotte Group vice chairman and Lotte Corp president Hwang Gak-kyu has expressed his intention to expedite the initial public offering (IPO) of Hotel Lotte if the conditions are ripe for it. Hwang met reporters after attending the Fair Trade Commission’s meeting with CEOs of the nation’s top ten conglomerates at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) on May 10.
He said, “We want to proceed with the IPO as soon as the conditions are met. However, we still need more preparations. We need to improve the hotel’s earnings ratio and investment value.” For Lotte Group, the listing of the hotel is necessary to establish the “One Lotte” governance system for chairman Shin Dong-bin, as Japan’s Lotte Holdings Co., a holding company of Lotte Group, currently holds a 99 percent stake in Hotel Lotte Co. Read more>>
Singapore’s Lampposts Will Be Watching You
In Singapore, ubiquitous lampposts that dot roadsides will soon do more than just light the way for drivers. They’re being turned into a treasure trove of data. The island Republic is aiming to use lampposts as sensors to collect everything from temperature to wind speed, and even record and recognize faces of people walking the streets.
This is the latest in a series of policies rolled out to support the Smart Nation vision– Singapore’s version of a smart city plan – that aims to integrate technology into everyday living. The Lion City is not alone. All across the Asia Pacific region, cities are exploring the use of sensors, data analytics, and artificial intelligence to create urban environments that live and breathe technology. Read more>>
Singapore Startup BitOfProperty Closed Seed Financing
Singapore-based startup BitOfProperty, a company dedicated to providing international real estate investment opportunities by bringing down the high capital requirement, enhanced transparency and increased liquidity, has closed seed round financing with a lead investor, Lifull Co, Ltd. This follows a pre-seed round led by Spaze Ventures, a Singapore-based startup incubator.
The decision to invest into BitOfProperty was influenced by Lifull’s goal to innovate and vitalise the real estate market in Japan utilising information technology. BitOfProperty differs from other crowdfunding platforms by allowing small investments into rental real estate based on blockchain technology. Read more>>
Tune in again tomorrow for more news, and be sure to follow @Mingtiandi on Twitter, or bookmark Mingtiandi’s LinkedIn page for headlines as they happen.
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