Monthly Archives: May 2011

Mapletree’s profits surge 90% on higher rental, new properties

Mapletree Investments Pte, the real estate unit of Singapore’s state investment firm Temasek Holdings Pte, posted a 90% increase in full-year profit as rents improved at its Singapore commercial properties and it got income from new properties in Japan and Vietnam.

Net income rose to $747 million in the year ended March 31 from $394 million the previous year, the Singapore-based company said at a press briefing in the city- state today. Total assets owned and managed by Mapletree rose 19% to $15.4 billion in the year.

The company aims to grow its assets under management to between $20 billion and $25 billion and have a recurring fee income of at least $200 million in three years. It listed two of its units in the past year, with Mapletree Industrial Trust raising $853 million in October last year and Mapletree Commercial Trust raising $893.2 million in April.

“Our business model of combining our development expertise with capabilities in investment and capital management has produced good results,” Hiew Yoon Khong, Mapletree’s chief executive officer, said at the briefing.

The company said it plans to start a Japan business space fund, with a fund equity size of between US$300 million to US$500 million, focusing on business assets located close to transport hubs. Mapletree has already bought 15 billion yen ($229 million) of seed assets, it said.

Hiew said the company plans to look for opportunities in new markets like South Korea, while continuing its expansion in Singapore, China, Japan, India and Vietnam.

Source : TheEdge – 25 May 2011

Singapore industrial property sector forecast to outperform all others

Singapore’s industrial property sector looks to outperform residential, retail, and office property over the next few years, after a dynamite 2010 and first quarter of 2011.

Donald Han, vice-chairman of property consultants at Cushman and Wakefield, said capital values for industrial properties rose as much as 22 per cent last year.

“I think probably we’re going to see another 15-per-cent price increase this year. As long as the economy continues to do well and our manufacturing numbers continue to expand, I think we’ll have another good 24 months of steady rental increase plus capital value enhancement as well,” said Han.

Demand is also coming from investors and speculators moving into the industrial space from the residential market due to the Government’s measures to cool the market for the latter, Han added.

Another attraction is the affordability of industrial properties compared to residential ones. Han said: “You can buy very affordable units for about 1,000 to 1,500 square feet at prices of about S$300 to S$350 per square foot (US$240-280), which translates to less than S$0.5 million (US$400,000). If you look at the residential projects, for S$0.5 million you really can’t buy much, not even shoebox units.”

The Urban Redevelopment Authority yesterday launched the tender for an industrial site at Tuas View Square, Today newspaper reported. Available for sale through the Reserve List system since November, the tender was triggered when a developer committed to bid no less than S$4.9 million (US$3.9 million) for the land parcel on a 45-year lease.

The 0.4 hectare site has a gross plot ratio of 0.9 and is zoned for Business 2 development, meaning it can be developed for various facilities such as light industry, general industry, warehousing, utility or telecommunication uses. The tender closes on June 29.

Meanwhile, JTC Corp has awarded the tender for a business park site at Biopolis to Ascendas Venture, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ascendas Land Singapore. The company submitted the highest bid of S$87.2 million (US$69.8 million) for the site, part of the fifth phase of Biopolis, which is expected to be completed in 2013.

Source : PRSEA – 25 May 2011