Evergrande’s Xu Jiayin led the way with $3B in offshore bonds in January
China’s real estate market is slowing and the country’s biggest developers have reacted by borrowing more cash from overseas markets as government controls continue to restrict home sales. Also in the news today, JP Morgan joins the analyst choir predicting a rapid recovery in the Hong Kong housing market and the Singapore government is making available an industrial site in the northern reaches of the tropical island state. Read on for the top stories from around the region.
Mainland Developers Issue $8.6B in Offshore Bonds
Top mainland Chinese property developers are flocking to the offshore bond market to capitalise on a recovery in investors’ appetite. About 14 companies, including big guns Country Garden and Evergrande China, have already issued bonds worth US$8.6 billion this year, more than doubling the amount for January 2018, according to Chinese financial data provider Wind Information.
Country Garden, China’s top developer by sales, issued bonds worth US$1 billion in January, with maturity ranging from three to five years and yields ranging from 7.125 per cent to 8 per cent. Evergrande, China’s third-largest developer by sales, borrowed US$3 billion in offshore bonds to refinance debt on January 22. Read more>>
JP Morgan Says HK Home Prices Could Jump 7% From April to December
JP Morgan has joined CLSA and Citibank in saying home prices in Hong Kong will rise from April to December under improved sentiment and continuous high liquidity, though analysts continue to caution the commercial market is likely to remain soft.
Home prices were likely to rise 5 to 7 per cent after a short-lived price correction of 15 per cent, said JP Morgan’s managing director and head of Asia property and Hong Kong research Cusson Leung during a media briefing on Tuesday. Read more>>
Singapore Industrial Site Goes Up for Tender
Singapore’s Jurong Town Corporation has put a 0.5ha Woodlands industrial park site up for tender. It is the first of five confirmed list sites under the first half of the 2019 Industrial Government Land Sales (IGLS) Programme, the government agency said on Tuesday (Jan 29).
The site has a lease period of 20 years, with a gross plot ratio of 2.5 and a maximum building height of 66m above mean sea level. It is also zoned for Business-2 use, and the tender for the site will close on March 26, 11am. Read more>>
Hang Lung Profits Slumped 26% in 2018
Hang Lung Properties reported on Wednesday 2018 underlying profit plunged 26 per cent on year, matching analyst expectations, amid softer sales during a 12-month period that coincided with a downturn in the developer’s project completion pipeline.
For the financial year ended December 31, the developer’s underlying profit totalled HK$4.09 billion (US$522 million), or 91 HK cents per share, compared to HK$5.53 billion, or HK$1.23 per share, a year earlier. Read more>>
SG Mortgages Applications Plunge 65%
Mortgage demand is flagging as private home buyers turned cautious in the wake of the July 6 cooling measures, tighter financing requirements and higher financing costs in a rising interest rate environment.
A study by Credit Bureau Singapore (CBS) found new mortgage loan applications plunged 64.9 per cent to 4,423 in December from July last year, and were down 54 per cent from a year ago. According to data provided by CBS, the number of new loan applications was at 12,619 in July, and 8,100 in August. Read more>>
Ascott REIT Distributions Climb 5%
A lift in revenue means an increased payout is in the offing for unit holders of Ascott Residence Trust (Ascott Reit). Distribution per unit (DPU) rose 5 per cent to 2.15 cents in the fourth quarter, it reported yesterday.
The increase comes on the back of a 6 per cent lift in unit holders’ distribution to $46.5 million for the three months to Dec 31. This included a one-off partial distribution of divestment gain of $6.5 million. Read more>>
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