Office Boy
Not to mention that the rich are coming back despite the 10% ABSD!Originally Posted by Rysk
NB! This YOUNG KOK cum INEXPERIENCE cum CUT & PASTE EXPERT SELETAR airbase (aka MR B) damn selfish again.. forever hid good news from us!!
Sky Green >80% sold before Official Launch! $1502psf!
http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking...green-20121023
http://www.propertyguru.com.sg/prope...at-soft-launch
http://forums.condosingapore.com/showthread.php?t=15392
Look at Capitol !
DKSG
Junior
No wonder nowadays even Tan Tong Meng ppl also grab at record selling price..
Super BIG unit.. cheap cheap only.. at $4,025,000!!
Seller's profit $2,413,800!!!
2012-10-09 #03-XX 3,240sf 1,242psf
1996-02-26 497psf Profit $2,413,800
Newbie
Property marketing is confirm cheonging up!!!!
Why is SELETAR having a different view? Even Seletar area is cheonging.
Junior
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-1...-earnings.html
Asian Stocks Decline as Global Slowdown Erodes Earnings
Bloomberg.com
By Jonathan Burgos - Oct 24, 2012 2:57 PM GMT+0800
Asian stocks dropped, with the regional benchmark index heading for its fourth straight loss, as the global economic slowdown crimps corporate earnings and after commodities erased this year’s gains.
BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP), the world’s largest mining company, declined 1.4 percent in Sydney. Kawasaki Heavy (7012) Industries Ltd. sank 5.7 percent in Tokyo after the gas-turbine maker said first-half earnings missed its forecast on slowing sales inChina and Europe. Esprit Holdings Ltd. slumped 10 percent as the clothier resumed trading in Hong Kong after saying first-quarter sales plummeted and announcing plans to raise HK$5.2 billion ($671 million) in a rights offer.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index declined 0.5 percent to 122.02 as of 3:40 p.m. in Tokyo, with about two shares falling for each that advanced on the measure. The gauge rose 13 percent from this year’s low on June 4 through yesterday as stimulus measures in the U.S., Japan and China boosted sentiment amid a global slowdown and Europe’s debt crisis. Spain’s recession will worsen in coming months, the nation’s central bank said yesterday.
“Weaker earnings from some of America’s biggest companies, along with a sense that Europe isn’t making good progress on the debt crisis, has shaken investor confidence,” said Hiroichi Nishi, an equities manager in Tokyo at SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. “After the run-up in markets, we’ve seen, technical indicators are pointing to some overheating.”
Relative Strength
The regional benchmark gauge posted its biggest weekly advance in a month last week, with the 14-day relative strength index climbing to 62.7 on Oct. 18, the highest in a month and closer to the 70 level that traders consider as overbought. Shares on the Asian gauge traded at 13 times estimated earnings yesterday, compared with 13.5 for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and 12 for the Stoxx Europe 600 Index.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average (NKY) fell 0.7 percent, reversing gains of as much as 0.3 percent. South Korea’s Kospi Index slipped 0.7 percent and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index dropped 0.8 percent. Taiwan’s Taiex Index lost 0.3 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 0.1 percent, heading for its first decline in nine days.
China’s Shanghai Composite Index slid 0.1 percent, paring losses of as much as 0.5 percent. A private survey from HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics showed manufacturing output in the world’s second-largest economy may contract at a slower pace this month.
Futures on the S&P 500 added 0.4 percent today. The gauge declined 1.4 percent yesterday in New York, the lowest closing level since Sept. 5, amid disappointing earnings results at companies from 3M Co. to DuPont Co.
Commodities Drop
Energy companies and raw-material producers posted the biggest decline among the 10 industry groups in the MSCI Asia Pacific Index. Commodities have erased this year’s advance on speculation that demand for energy, industrial metals and some agricultural products will slump because of the sluggish global economy. The Standard & Poor’s GSCI Spot Index of 24 raw materials fell 1.4 percent yesterday in New York.
BHP slipped 1.4 percent to A$34.31 in Sydney. Rio Tinto Group (RIO), the world’s second-largest minter by market value, lost 1 percent A$57.26. Inpex Corp., Japan’s leading energy explorer, slid 2.1 percent to 468,500 yen in Tokyo.
Kawasaki Heavy decreased 5.7 percent to 166 yen. The company said in a preliminary earnings statement that operating profit fell to 10.3 billion yen ($129 million), missing its estimate by 49 percent, in the six months ended Sept. 30.
Posco, Esprit
Posco dropped 1.4 percent to 343,500 won in Seoul after Asia’s third-largest steelmaker cut sales forecast for the third time this year as quarterly profit missed estimates.
Esprit tumbled 10 percent to HK$11.24 as trading resumed in Hong Kong following a holiday yesterday. The company on Oct. 22 said sales fell 23 percent in the quarter ended September and that it will offer investors the right to buy one new share at HK$8 each for every two held.
Of the 64 companies on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index (MXAP) that posted quarterly results since Oct. 1, 58 percent missed analyst estimates, while 42 percent surpassed expectations, according todata compiled by Bloomberg News.
Among stocks that advanced, SK Hynix Inc. climbed 4.1 percent to 24,000 won in Seoul after the world’s second-largest maker of computer memory chips reported its first profitable quarter in four on lower costs and currency gains.
Air China Ltd. jumped 6.2 percent to HK$5.45 after the nation’s biggest carrier by market value scrapped a planned share sale because of “uncertainty.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan Burgos in Singapore at [email protected]
Junior
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-1...xth-month.html
German Ifo Business Confidence Unexpectedly Fell in October
Bloomberg.com
By Stefan Riecher - Oct 24, 2012 4:14 PM GMT+0800
German business confidence unexpectedly fell to the lowest in more than 2 1/2 years in October as the sovereign debt crisis damped growth in Europe’s largest economy.
The Ifo institute in Munich said its business climate index, based on a survey of 7,000 executives, dropped to 100.0 from 101.4 in September. That’s the sixth straight decline and the lowest reading since February 2010. Economists predicted an increase to 101.6, according to the median of 39 forecasts in aBloomberg News survey.
German truckmaker MAN SE said on Oct. 12 that next year will be even tougher than 2012 after third-quarter orders slumped. Photographer: Guenter Schiffmann/Bloomberg
Financial markets have rallied since the European Central Bank pledged to do whatever is needed to preserve the euro and unveiled a plan to buy government bonds. Still, the German economy may contract in the fourth quarter as euro-area and global demand for its exports wanes, the Bundesbank said on Oct. 22. Germany’s manufacturing and service industries shrank more than economists forecast this month, another report showed today.
“There are signs of deterioration in the German economy,”said Alexander Koch, an economist at UniCredit Research in Munich. “Until now we have navigated through the storm pretty well. It seems this is about to change.”
Ifo’s measure of executives’ expectations was unchanged at 93.2, while a gauge of the current situation dropped to 107.3 from 110.3. The euro fell more than quarter of a cent after the report to $1.2936.
Expected Slowdown
While exports to faster-growing markets outside Europe and domestic spending have helped insulate Germany from the turmoil in the euro area, the debt crisis is leaving its mark.
Growth slowed to 0.3 percent in the second quarter from 0.5 percent in the first. “There are increasing signs that a perceptible expansion of economic growth in the third quarter of 2012 will be followed by stagnation or even a slight decrease in gross domestic product in the final quarter of the year,” the Bundesbank said in its monthly report.
At least five of the 17 euro-area nations are in recession, including Spain and Italy. Spain’s economy shrank 0.4 percent in the three months through September, the Bank of Spain said yesterday, the fifth straight quarterly contraction.
German truckmaker MAN SE said on Oct. 12 that next year will be even tougher than 2012 after third-quarter orders slumped. The Munich-based company lowered its 2012 earnings forecast in July as weaker demand in Brazil added to woes in Europe.
Stocks Gain
Still, Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW), the world’s largest maker of luxury vehicles, will invest 200 million euros ($259 million) in a Brazil factory to boost sales, it said on Oct. 22. The company’s global nine-month sales through September increased 8.6 percent to 1.11 million vehicles.
The benchmark DAX share index has rallied 9 percent since ECB President Mario Draghi pledged on July 26 to do whatever it takes to preserve the euro.
“The risk of a euro-area member bankruptcy is significantly lower now than it was two months ago,” said Lothar Hessler, an economist at HSBC Trinkaus & Burkhardt AG in Dusseldorf. “Germany’s economy might stagnate in the second half of the year. But it will grow in 2013 because the worst part of the European debt crisis is behind us.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Stefan Riecher in Frankfurt at [email protected]
Junior
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-1...recast-1-.html
Euro-Area Services, Manufacturing Shrink More Than Forecast
Bloomberg.com
By Simone Meier - Oct 24, 2012 4:45 PM GMT+0800
Euro-area services and manufacturing output contracted more than economists forecast in October, suggesting the economy may struggle to regain strength as governments toughen spending cuts to contain the debt crisis.
A composite index based on a survey of purchasing managers in both industries fell to 45.8, the lowest in more than three years, from 46.1 in September, London-based Markit Economics said today. Economists had forecast an October reading of 46.5, the median of 18 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey showed. A reading below 50 indicates contraction.
A gauge of euro-area manufacturing dropped to 45.8 in October from 46.1 in the previous month, today’s report showed. Photographer: Balint Porneczi/Bloomberg
The European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund have both lowered their forecasts for the euro-area economy over the past 1 1/2 months as governments cut spending to plug their budget gaps, eroding consumer and export demand. Business confidence in Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, unexpectedly fell to a 2 1/2-year low this month, a separate report showed.
Today’s report “is an unpleasant surprise and reinforces concern that the economic downturn in the region may be deepening,” said Martin van Vliet, an economist at ING in Amsterdam. “Any return to positive growth next year will likely be slow and gradual and remains contingent on further progress toward resolving the debt crisis.”
The euro has appreciated 3.4 percent against the dollar over the past two months as European government officials stepped up their crisis response and the ECB announced its bond-purchase program. The European currency declined on today’s data, trading at $1.2927 at 10:19 a.m. in Brussels, down 0.5 percent on the day.
Debt Burdens
A gauge of euro-area manufacturing dropped to 45.3 in October from 46.1 in the previous month, today’s report showed. That’s the lowest in two months. An indicator of services output rose to 46.2 from 46.1. Germany’s manufacturing gauge dropped to 45.7 from 47.4, while the service indicator slipped to 49.3 from 49.7. France also had shrinking activities.
Euro-area governments may find it difficult to reduce deficits and lower their debt burdens, which reached a record in the first quarter, with at least five euro nations already in recession and the economic slump deepening. Germany’s Bundesbank said on Oct. 22 that Europe’s largest economy may shrink in the current quarter on faltering exports.
‘Steeper Fall’
The ECB said in its quarterly projections published on Sept. 6 that the euro-area economy may contract 0.4 percent this year instead of a previously estimated 0.1 percent. That’s in line with the IMF’s forecast for this year. Both institutions cut growth projections for next year.
“The euro zone has slid further into decline at the start of the fourth quarter,” said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit, in the statement. “While gross domestic product may decline only modestly in the third quarter, a steeper fall looks to be on the cards for the fourth.”
Some companies are seeking to tap faster-growing markets to bolster sales. Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, the world’s largest maker of luxury vehicles, will invest 200 million euros ($259 million) into a Brazil factory, Ian Robertson, head of sales and marketing told reporters on Oct. 22. German rival Volkswagen AG (VOW)’s Audi brand plans to produce cars at a plant in Mexico.
China, U.S.
In China, an October manufacturing index rose and economists have pared forecasts for cuts in interest rates as confidence grows that the world’s second-biggest economy is stabilizing. The preliminary, or flash, reading was 49.1 for a purchasing managers’ index released today by HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit, after a final level of 47.9 in September.
China will probably keep the benchmark one-year lending rate at 6 percent through the end of 2012, based on median estimates in a survey conducted Oct. 18-22, instead of prior forecasts for a quarter percentage-point cut.
In the U.S., the Federal Open Market Committee will decide on monetary policy at the conclusion of a two-day meeting, the last before the presidential election. Data on mortgage applications and new-home sales are also due later today.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said on Sept. 13 that the central bank will conduct a third round of so-called quantitative easing, buying $40 billion of mortgage debt a month until policy makers see “ongoing, sustained improvement on the labor market.”
Spanish Aid
ECB President Mario Draghi last month announced an unlimited bond-purchase program to regain control of interest rates in the euro area and fight speculation of a currency breakup. It’s now up to governments such as Spain to apply for aid from the region’s bailout fund to activate purchases.
Silvio Peruzzo, an economist at Nomura International Plc inLondon, said the Spanish request for a sovereign bailout “will ultimately come.”
Still, “there is currently no pressure on Spain to request a bailout,” he told Michael McKee on Bloomberg Radio on Oct. 19. “The market is stable. Who wants to give up sovereignty in the euro area and if the market doesn’t push you, it’s pretty plausible that they will try to delay as long as they can.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Simone Meier in Zurich at [email protected]
Junior
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-1...facturing.html
Most European Stocks Decline as Manufacturing Contracts
Bloomberg.com
By Sarah Jones - Oct 24, 2012 4:42 PM GMT+0800
Most European stocks dropped after a report showed euro-area services and manufacturing contracted more than economists had estimated. U.S. index futures fluctuated, while Asian shares declined.
Volvo AB (VOLVB) slumped 5.8 percent after the truckmaker’s third-quarter profit missed analysts’ estimates. SAP AG (SAP) gained 4.1 percent after the company raised its full-year revenue target as software license sales exceeded analysts’ projections.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index (SXXP) slipped less than 0.1 percent to 268.27 at 9:39 a.m. in London, as more the three shares dropped for every two that gained. The equity benchmark has given up almost all of its gains since European Central Bank officials agreed to an unlimited bond-purchase program on Sept. 6. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.2 percent today, while the MSCI Asia Pacific Index decreased 0.5 percent.
“Europe has negative economic growth and has huge headwinds which are not going to disappear with some Hollywood ending in the next six months or so,” Alex Friedman, global chief investment officer at UBS AG said on Bloomberg Television from Zurich. “I don’t think there is any way to say that Europeis about to turn a corner.”
Stocks slumped around the world yesterday, sending the S&P 500 tumbling more than 1 percent and crude oil falling to a three-month low as company earnings disappointed investors, spurring concern that the global economy is weakening.
To contact the reporter on this story: Sarah Jones in London at [email protected]
Junior
Cos YOUNG KOK cum INEXPERIENCE MR SELETAR airbase missed the boat.. Oops! I mean missed the plane in 2008..
Now still staying the dormitory inside the Seletar Airbase.. looking outside of dreaming to own those landed property..
Junior
http://www.cnbc.com/id/49530111
October PMIs Suggest Euro Zone Downturn Deepening
Published: Wednesday, 24 Oct 2012 | 4:31 AM ET
By: Reuters
Euro zone businesses in October suffered their worst month since the bloc emerged from its last recession more than three years ago, forcing them to cut more jobs to reduce costs, surveys showed on Wednesday.
The downturn that began in smaller periphery countries is now gripping Germany and France, dragging the euro zone as a whole deeper into the quagmire.
Markit's Composite Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), which polls around 5,000 businesses across the 17-nation bloc and is viewed as a reliable growth indicator, fell to 45.8 this month from a September reading of 46.1.
It is the lowest reading since June 2009 and confounded consensus expectations in a Reuters poll for a rise to 46.4.
The index has now been below the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction since February.
"It's very disappointing, it's a depressing scenario as things are getting worse," said Chris Williamson, chief economist at data collator Markit.
"We are more downbeat than the official data. The PMIs are running at levels in the third quarter and start of the fourth quarter historically consistent with GDP falling at about 0.6 percent."
Williamson said while the official data implied a more modest decline of 0.2-0.3 percent in the third quarter, the PMIs suggested the downturn would accelerate into the current quarter, a far gloomier outlook than the stagnation predicted by a Reuters poll last week.
The economy contracted 0.2 percent in the second quarter and is predicted to have shrunk 0.3 percent in the third, meeting the technical definition of a recession.
A three-year old debt crisis has wreaked havoc across the region, weighing on the global economy in turn.
While the European Central Bank has launched measures to contain it there is a risk it will flare up again.
The ECB has pledged to buy an unlimited amount of bonds to lower struggling euro zone countries' borrowing costs.
It has cut interest rates to a record low of 0.75 percent and will probably cut another 25 basis points by year-end.
In Germany, Europe's largest economy, the composite PMI spent its sixth month below 50.
In France the index was below the break-even mark for the eighth month.
Deeper Despair
The PMI for the dominant services sector nudged up to 46.2, missing expectations for a bigger rise to 46.4 from September's 46.1.
That came despite services firms cutting the prices they charge for the 11th straight month.
Pessimism amongst them grew deeper this month, with the business expectations index falling sharply to 47.8, the lowest reading since February 2009 when the bloc was at the nadir of the last recession and world stock markets were tumbling.
Manufacturers fared little better, with the factory PMI notching up its 15th month below 50, sinking to 45.3 from 46.1.
The consensus from a Reuters poll had predicted a climb to 46.5.
An output index for the sector, which drove a large part of the bloc's recovery from the last recession, fell to 44.8 from last month's 45.9.
Manufacturers were just as gloomy about the future as they ran down stock levels at the fastest pace since December 2009, with the sub index plummeting to 43.5 from 46.5, matching the third-biggest monthly drop in the survey's 15-year history.
Also highlighting the despair, firms cut their workforces for the 10th month, albeit at a slower pace.
The composite employment index rose to 47.1 from last month's 46.4.
Official data released earlier this month showed unemployment at 11.4 percent in August, the highest level since the bloc's inception in 1999.
"There is nothing specific that is making businesses gloomier - it is a much more general widespread gloom," Williamson said.
"Businesses are very much in cost-cutting, retrenchment mode, battening down the hatches because they don't know what the outlook is."
Junior
Wow!! Yet again record breaking psf!!NB! 20th June talked BIG BIG what "Prices have been dropping in the resale market"..
Asked you which country you are referring to.. asking from VIVA $1800-1900psf.. ask till now record breaking psf $2148psf.. still no answer!!
VIVA SUFFOLK WALK Condominium $2,844,450 $1,324sf #18-XX $2,148psf
MIRO LINCOLN ROAD Apartment $3,227,612 $1,324sf 2,438psf
Music of the night
that is the irony isn't it, you can hardly find any good news except inflation tops 4.7% today big big on ST yet property market reaches 7th heaven
Ride at your own risk !!!
Junior
Life is about relatively. Say among 4 friends including u, a has 10k, b has 120k, c has 25k, you have 200k. They will say u very rich. S right now, us in shit, Europe in shit, Asia is shiny.that is the irony isn't it, you can hardly find any good news except inflation tops 4.7% today big big on ST yet property market reaches 7th heaven
China still reporting single digit growth but because in the past it was double digit, everyone say china in shit.
All because of relativity.
Hahahaha
Music of the night
China is not good at marketing ...
Ride at your own risk !!!
Junior
I give my personal opinion. I am so happy China is showing its power. It's about high time. Their might gave us Chinese recognition. This is just my view.China is not good at marketing ...
A bit too extreme for some to swallow though.
Senior
exactly, high single digit growth is something the americans and europeans are dreaming about. yet the press describes that they're in shit? lol.
Newbie
....the do not need to market, they are the market....China is not good at marketing ...
Junior
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/prem...sting-20121025
Business Times
Published October 25, 2012
Sponsor pulls the plug on Dynasty Reit listing
ARA cites poor market sentiment for suspending the much-hyped IPO
By ong chor hao
Mr Lim: '. . . I have to ensure that our investors . . . will not suffer losses at IPO.' - PHOTO: YEN MENG JIIN
[SINGAPORE] What was tipped to be Singapore's largest initial public offering (IPO) of the year, and the first renminbi-denominated listing on the Singapore Exchange (SGX), has fallen on its face.
Dynasty Reit's flotation, which was expected to raise up to 5.4 billion yuan (S$1 billion), has been suspended until further notice, its sponsor, ARA Asset Management (ARA) said yesterday.
"I think this is one of the toughest decisions I've had to make in the last 10 years when I've been managing ARA," group CEO John Lim said in a conference call after markets closed.
Despite winning "substantial support" from institutional and retail investors, ARA said that there was a "marked change in market sentiment" in the past week.
It listed two factors for this change: the poor recent performances of several IPOs and a gradual worsening of overall market conditions.
Junior
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-1...ts-demand.html
Li’s ARA Cancels Dual-Currency IPO as Religare Drop Hurts Demand
Bloomberg.com
By Joyce Koh - Oct 25, 2012 12:01 AM GMT+0800
ARA Asset Management, the manager of property trusts backed by billionaire Li Ka-shing, canceled what would have been Singapore’s first dual-currency initial public offering amid sluggish demand for new equity.
ARA suspended the IPO of Dynasty Real Estate Investment Trust (DYREIT), which is backed by commercial real estate in China and was set to trade in both yuan and Singapore dollars, according to a stock exchange statement yesterday.
Recent IPOs in Southeast Asia including Religare Health Trust (RHT) and Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd. (ASTRO) have fallen since they started trading, dimming the allure of new equity. Li’s Hui Xian Real Investment trust, which last year completed the first yuan IPO outside China, is down 22 percent from its offer price.
“There has been a marked change in investor sentiment given the recent after market performance of several IPOs and a gradual worsening of the overall market conditions,” ARA said in the statement.
At as much as 5.4 billion yuan ($864 million), Dynasty REIT’s IPO would have been Singapore’s largest since Li’sHutchison Port Holdings Trust (HPHT) raised $5.5 billion in March last year. ARA said today it may consider a China-focused REIT later, and will continue to manage the properties in its private funds. Dynasty REIT is backed by commercial properties in Shanghai, Nanjing and Dalian, according to the IPO prospectus.
Singapore’s surging dollar may also have hurt the appeal of a yuan-denominated offering. The city-state’s currency has gained 5.9 percent against the U.S. dollar this year, the second-best performance among major currencies, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
IPO Drought
IPOs have dwindled in Singapore and Hong Kong as turbulent global markets and Europe’s credit crisis weakened investor appetite for risk. In July, Reliance Communications Ltd. (RCOM)withdrew a $1 billion IPO of its undersea cable unit in Singapore, citing market conditions.
Seven of this year’s 10 biggest first-time offerings in Hong Kong have been priced at the low end of price ranges marketed to investors, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
ARA shares fell 1.3 percent to close at S$1.555 yesterday in Singapore trading. The stock has risen 27 percent this year, outperforming the 15 percent gain in the benchmark Straits Times Index.
Standard Chartered Plc, DBS Group Holdings Ltd. and Macquarie Group Ltd. were managing the IPO.
To contact the reporter on this story: Joyce Koh in Singapore at [email protected]
Junior
http://www.cnbc.com/id/49531208
The Immeasurable Risk European Banks May Be Hiding
Published: Wednesday, 24 Oct 2012 | 7:26 AM ET
By: Catherine Boyle
Staff Writer, CNBC.com
There is growing concern among policymakers and analysts that the true extent of European banks’ debt problems is being masked.
Sir Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England, became the most high-profile policymaker to date to warn of the dangers of banks putting off foreclosures in a speech Tuesday night.
His stern warning to U.K. banks that they need to drop the “pretense” that some of their bad debts will be repaid was coupled with the statement that they have “insufficient capital” to deal with losses which have remained undeclared.
Essentially, what seems to have happened is that banks across the euro zone have put off foreclosures on weak businesses – a process known as forbearance. This has been enabled by low interest rates across the region and rescue packages which have injected unprecedented amounts of liquidity into the banking system and helped keep struggling economies afloat.
The scale of forbearance is hinted at in relatively low rates of company insolvencies.
In the U.K., despite the recession, insolvency rates are similar to 2002, when the economy grew by 1.6 percent, according to government figures.
(Read More: Is It Time to Kill Off U.K.'s Zombie Companies?)
Greece’s problems have been well flagged – yet just five Greek companies were declared insolvent in 2011, the year it was forced to seek a bailout from international lenders, fewer than in 2007, when its economy was still growing.
This persists across the euro zone, with the weakest economies sometimes experiencing its lowest insolvency rates.
In 2011, the number of insolvencies per 10,000 companies was lowest in Greece, Spain, Italy and Portugal, according to calculations from Creditreform.
(Read More: Dangers of Euro Zone Exit for Greece, Spain, Italy and Portugal)
However, as Nigel Myer, director of credit strategy at Lloyds, pointed out, the extent of this is “effectively invisible” and “almost impossible to quantify.” Decisions are made by individual banks and they do not have to declare them under accountancy rules.
Putting off foreclosure could be dangerous not only because it masks the true state of businesses, but because it could mean a faster rate of insolvencies if banks decide to change their policies in response to a worsening economy, with potential damage to employment figures and the broader economy – and to the banks themselves.
“To the extent that forbearance has taken place, a worsening economic environment in these countries could lead to a faster rate of deterioration in asset quality than might be inferred from reported numbers,” Myer warned.
(Read More: 2011's Biggest Bankruptcies)
Of course, delaying the repayment of non-performing loans can be positive for the economy, particularly in the short-term.
“It has allowed companies to survive and people to be employed,” as Myer pointed out. “It also very likely supports tax receipts and reduces the need for social security support.”
Sir Mervyn’s warning does not chime with other influential figures in the UK.
Andrew Bailey, a member of the Bank’s Financial Policy Committee and head of prudential regulation at UK regulator the Financial Services Authority, thanked the banks for their actions earlier in October.
The European countries least likely to be affected by forbearance following worse-than-expected economic data are Switzerland, Austria and Denmark, according to Myer, who suggested spreads in Swiss banks and the recent rally in Danish spreads should be supported by worries about forbearance.
Written by Catherine Boyle, CNBC. Twitter: @cboylecnbc.
Junior
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-1...mortgages.html
Spain’s Bad Bank Seen as Too Big to Work: Mortgages
Bloomberg.com
By Sharon Smyth - Oct 25, 2012 6:00 AM GMT+0800
Spain’s efforts to sell as much as 90 billion euros ($117 billion) of toxic property assets it uses to create a bad bank from lenders that take state aid will be constrained by the size and inability to provide credit to potential buyers, adding to the risk of taxpayer losses.
“When managing tens of thousands of assets scattered across the whole of Spain, big is not beautiful, it’s sheer chaos,” said Mikel Echavarren, chairman of Irea, a Madrid-based financial adviser. A large, “clumsy” bad bank will be at a“tremendous” disadvantage and will generate losses that Spaniards will have to foot the bill for.
The country has until the end of next month to establish the institution, a condition of 100 billion euros of external aid for its financial system requested in June. Premier Mariano Rajoy’s government, seeking to purge about 180 billion euros of bad assets linked to real estate that the Bank of Spain says are on the balance sheets of lenders, has said it will be profitable and won’t cost taxpayers.
The bad bank will not take deposits and so won’t be able to provide financing to potential buyers of its assets, Antonio Carrascosa, director general of the state run FROB bank-rescue fund, said in an Oct. 18 interview at a Barcelona conference.
The aim is to place soured real estate loans and other assets in the vehicle for as long as 15 years in the hope that, once cleansed of bad property bets, banks can resume lending and reactivate an economy mired in its second recession since 2009. The bad bank will have to compete with healthier lenders that have set up units to sell their own problem assets and can provide credit, known as vendor financing, to potential buyers.
Financing Agreements
“It won’t be a bank and the only way it may be able to achieve sales with attractive mortgages is by reaching financing agreements with other banks, which will be competing to deleverage their own real estate,” said Fernando Acuna Ruiz, managing partner of Taurus Iberica Asset Management in Madrid.
Acuna, whose company overseas 60,000 foreclosed properties on behalf of 25 banks, said that while the structuring will be in place by December, it will be “mammoth,” with tens of thousands of assets and loans to service and transfer onto its books. “Integrated management won’t be up and running for 12 to 24 months after,” he said.
Known by its Spanish acronym SAREB, it will have as much as 90 billion euros of assets based on their transfer price, initially comprising land, developer loans and residential units that went bad after Spain’s decade-long real estate boom turned to bust, an Economy Ministry official who spoke on condition of anonymity told reporters on Oct. 17.
Transfer Valuations
The Bank of Spain has yet to fix transfer valuations for the assets based on the stress tests of Spanish lenders carried out by management consultants Oliver Wyman and published on Sept. 28. The 90 billion euro number is based on transfer prices, so the original value of the assets is likely to be higher.
In comparison, Ireland’s National Asset Management Agency, set up in 2009, spent 32 billion euros on mortgages with a face value of 74 billion euros to cleanse its banking system.
Lenders that take state aid will have to transfer to the bad bank foreclosed property of more than 100,000 euros, real estate and builder loans of more than 250,000 euros and controlling stakes in property firms, according to the Economy Ministry official. A decree to regulate the entity should be passed on Nov. 16. It may be amplified in the future to include loans to consumers, small and medium enterprises and retail mortgages.
‘Consume Capital’
“It will need a legion of lawyers, notaries and debt servicers to ensure properties and loans have no legal issues and change title documents,” Echavarren, said during a telephone interview. “By the time they find out what and where the assets are, they won’t have any idea of what they have and what to do with it for at least a year.”
The vehicle won’t have the resources to manage assets, which are like “livestock that consume capital,” he said. Holding the assets cost money in taxes, maintenance and security and will generate losses for Spaniards.
Its lack of financing options will also hamper the bank, said Echavarren. “A bad bank can try to compete by slashing prices but as a buyer if you can’t get a loan, and the bad bank won’t be able to provide them, you can’t buy full stop.”
The FROB, which will be a shareholder in the bad bank, is searching for investors to take at least 51 percent of the vehicle, an onerous task, according to analysts including Krista Davies at Fitch Ratings.
Skeptical Investors
“Equity investors in the private sector are likely to be skeptical of the benefits to be drawn from investing in a wind-down vehicle,” Davies wrote in an Oct. 22 report. “As SAREB purchases will take place during a period of uncertainty around economic development in Spain, there is likely to be only a small number of potential private investors in SAREB.”
Concerns about Spain’s creditworthiness have grown since the government, which is struggling to trim a 2011 deficit that was more than three times the EU limit, requested as much as 100 billion euros in European Union aid in June to shore up its lenders and its economy contracted for a fifth quarter.
On Oct. 17 Spain avoided joining euro-region peers Cyprus, Portugal, Ireland and Greece as being rated below investment grade by Moody’s Investors Service as it concluded a review for a possible further downgrade of Spain initiated in June. Standard & Poor’s lowered Spain’s ratings to BBB- on Oct.10.
According to Carrascosa, the bad bank “cannot make losses in the short, mid or long term.” As well as reaching accords with banks participating in the vehicle, the bad bank will need to reach agreements with other “healthy” financial institutions to arrange vendor financing, he said.
Individual Sales
It also hasn’t ruled out selling homes individually.
“We can’t set up offices all over Spain because it’s too big so we’ll try to sell packages of assets to institutional investors and not individual apartments,” he said. “If we have to set up agreements with real estate agents, we could do it. Flexibility and profitability are the two key words.”
The bad banks limitations stand in contrast to Banco Santander SA (SAN), Spain’s largest bank. It advertises homes on its Altamira real estate website for as little as 40,000 euros ($52,000) in the capital and apartments complete with swimming pool and garage on the coast of Moncofar in Valencia for 65,100 euros. The lender offers 40 year mortgages with loan to values of as much as 100 percent.
The strategy is paying off. Proceeds from sales of homes on its balance sheet reached 1.3 billion euros in the second quarter -- almost as much as the total for the whole of 2011, according to Alfredo Saenz the bank’s chief executive officer, who said on July 26 that sales are taking place at discounts of as much as 45 percent.
Selling Houses
Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA (BBVA), Spain’s second-largest lender, last year created BBVA Real Estate to handle its 30 billion euros of property assets.
“Our policy is to sell at market prices with 100 percent financing,” Ignacio San Martin, head of research at BBVA Real Estate, said on Oct. 19. The bank is selling more houses than last year though said that for large institutional investors the bank prefers buyers to provide their own financing. “That way we don’t hold the loan on our books or have to provision them.”
Banco Sabadell, a Catalan lender, sold 824 properties in the first half of the year, up from 527 a year earlier via its Solvia real estate unit, and is aiming for sales of 1.19 billion euros this year, Chief Executive Officer Jaime Guardiola said last month.
Perpetuate Subprime
According to Fernando Rodriguez de Acuna Martinez, a partner at Acuna & Asociados, a real estate consulting firm inMadrid, the strategy works well for healthy banks. If nationalized banks that transfer assets to the bad bank were forced to provide vendor financing for sales, it would perpetuate the subprime lending that got them into trouble in the first place.
“As a nationalized bank you’d be looking at an asset that came to you via way of default so do you really want to be forced to finance its sale again to get it out of the bad bank?” he said during a telephone interview.
Acuna says the best discounts are on the worst assets where demand comes only from people with low credit rating.
“So they are subprime or less than subprime borrowers and if you give them credit you are assuming bad risk again, it’s a vicious circle as you are financing the very assets and debtors that got you in trouble in the first place.”
To contact the reporters on this story: Sharon Smyth in Madrid at [email protected]; Charles Penty in Madrid at [email protected].
Junior
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-1...les-slump.html
Firings Reach Highest Since 2010 as Ford to Dow Face Sales Slump
Bloomberg.com
By Chris Burritt - Oct 25, 2012 7:06 AM GMT+0800
Ford Motor Co. (F) and Dow Chemical Co. (DOW)joined a growing number of companies firing thousands of workers as sluggish U.S. growth and Europe’s deepening recession lead to a persisting slump in sales.
North American companies have announced plans to eliminate 62,600 positions at home and abroad since Sept. 1, the biggest two-month drop since the start of 2010, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Firings total 158,100 so far this year, more than the 129,000 job cuts in the same period in 2011.
Ford is closing its first European car-assembly factories in 10 years, adding to more than 5,500 cuts announced by Dow Chemical, DuPont Co. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) in the past week. The reductions coincide with a majority of U.S. companies missing analysts’ third-quarter revenue estimates and a focus on jobs in the final weeks of the U.S. presidential campaign.
“Companies are saying, ‘Let’s not build up inventories, let’s be lean and mean until we know until we have a better idea of what 2013 is going to look like,’” said Janna Sampson, who helps manage more than $3 billion for Oakbrook Investments in Lisle, Illinois. “There is a fear now as companies see that the economic recovery is not picking up.”
So far, out of 204 S&P 500 companies that have released third-quarter earnings, 120 have reported sales that trailed analysts’ estimates, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
More Cuts
Those results, similar to the S&P 500’s second-quarter performance, signal employers may increase firings over the next two quarters, according to John Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., a human resources consulting firm based in Chicago.
Sales misses are “a sure prescription for layoffs starting to heat up as companies take immediate action to show their shareholders how responsive they are,” Challenger said yesterday by telephone.
The U.S. unemployment rate fell below 8 percent in September for the first time since January 2009, and a surge in firings may counteract job gains elsewhere in the economy.
The technology hardware and equipment industry has announced the most job reductions among North American companies this year with 41,200, led by Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ)’s announcement in September that it plans 29,000 cuts, more than it originally disclosed. Banks are next with plans to eliminate more than 19,000 positions, according to Bloomberg data.
AMD, the second-largest maker of processors for personal computers, said last week it will cut 15 percent of its staff, or about 1,665 jobs, after forecasting fourth-quarter sales that fell short of analysts’ estimates.
‘Necessary Steps’
Restructuring measures designed to trim annual costs by about $190 million are “difficult but necessary steps to ensure our plan has the right scale and scope to address the market and competitive challenges we now face,” Rory Read, chief executive officer of the Sunnyvale, California-based company, said on an Oct. 18 conference call.
The closing of about 20 plants in the U.S. and abroad will eliminate about 2,400 jobs, Midland, Michigan-based Dow Chemical said this week. DuPont, based in Wilmington, Delaware, plans to trim 1,500 jobs after third-quarter profit trailed analysts’estimates and it reduced its full-year forecast.
Earlier this month, Cummins Inc. (CMI), a Columbus, Indiana-based engine maker, said it expects to erase as many as 1,500 jobs by the end of 2012 and lowered its forecasts for sales and profit.
“A lot of companies have been positioned for continued growth and we’re seeing some stagnation or a modest decline,”Andy Kaplowitz, a New York-based industrial analyst for Barclays Plc, said in a telephone interview on Oct. 24.
Ford Factories
U.S. companies are also restructuring European operations to stem the slowdown. Kimberly-Clark Corp. (KMB) said this week it plans to cut manufacturing and administrative operations as it exits the diaper business in western and central Europe, except for Italy, to concentrate on faster-growing regions. The Dallas-based company didn’t say how many workers may lose their jobs.
Ford, the second-largest U.S. automaker, is closing a factory in Genk, Belgium, by the end of 2014. A second plant in Southampton, England, will shut as early as next year, said two people familiar with the situation, asking not to be identified revealing internal plans. In contrast, the Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker has added more than 6,500 hourly jobs in the U.S. this year through early September, Todd Nissen, a spokesman, said in an e-mail.
European Recession
Companies based in western Europe have also accelerated large-scale job reductions this year as the recession in the European Union worsens. Services and manufacturing shrank more than economists forecast in October and business confidence in Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, dropped to the lowest in more than 2 1/2 years.
“We’re seeing uncertainty about whether Europe will make it or not,” Diane Swonk, chief economist for Mesirow Financial Holdings Inc. in Chicago, said in an interview.
Among western European companies, there have been 47 job-cut announcements so far this year involving at least 1,000 workers, compared with 32 in the same period of 2011, according to the data compiled by Bloomberg. The peak month was July, with 39,800 firings. That brings the year-to-date total for the region’s companies to 165,700, up from 162,420 in the same period a year earlier, the data show.
Alcatel-Lucent SA (ALU), the Paris-based phone-equipment maker whose stock is trading near a 23-year low, said last week it plans to trim 5,500 positions worldwide, including about 1,400 in France. The reductions will primarily affect sales, marketing and administrative employees, said Simon Poulter, a spokesman.
Philips, Siemens
Lighting company Royal Philips Electronics NV, based in Amsterdam, is eliminating 2,200 additional jobs to wring out an extra 300 million euros ($389 million) as economic conditions deteriorate. Munich-based Siemens AG (SIE), the maker of high-speed trains, turbines and medical gear, has identified about 8,000 potential cuts globally, and the number that may reach 10,000 by year-end, a person familiar with the plan said this month.
Back in the U.S., companies are hesitant to expand until they know the result of the presidential election and how lawmakers will handle the so-called fiscal cliff, or the $607 billion in tax increases and spending cuts set to take effect in January if Congress doesn’t intervene. Inaction probably would cause a recession in the first half of 2013, according to theCongressional Budget Office.
The world’s largest economy probably grew at a 1.8 percent annual rate in the third quarter after expanding at a 1.3 percent pace in the previous three months, according to the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg before an Oct. 26 Commerce Department report. It would be the first back-to-back readings lower than 2 percent since the U.S. was emerging from the recession in 2009.
“We are operating in a world where demand is still very weak,” Jeff Fettig, CEO of Benton Harbor, Michigan-basedWhirlpool Corp. (WHR), said in an Oct. 23 interview. The world’s largest appliance maker boosted its 2012 adjusted earnings forecast this week, helped by the elimination of 5,000 jobs in the past year.
To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Burritt in Greensboro at [email protected]
Junior
Local banks are worried about shrinking net interest margins and fierce competition for SGD deposits. These problems have hurt their bottomline and it will be getting worse unless something is done. The most probable solution to these problems are to raise lending rates, mortgage rates as well as deposit rates. The probability of mortgage rates hike soon could be high.
http://sbr.com.sg/financial-services...hese-2-threats
Singapore Business review
FINANCIAL SERVICES | Staff Reporter, Singapore
Published: 1 hour 52 min ago
Singapore banks get the jitters from these 2 threats
Net interest gains are under pressure.
According to Barclays Research, it expects ongoing pressure on net interest income for the Singapore banks due to: 1) slowing loan volumes driven by weakening corporate loan demand; and 2) lower margins driven by fierce loan and deposit competition.
Here's more from Barclays Research:
As loan growth slows, the Singapore banks’ abundant liquidity will likely become an increasing drag on margins. We turn neutral on the Singapore banks sub-sector (from positive previously), which is in line with our Neutral view for the Asia-ex Japan Banking industry.
Slower volumes: Corporate and cross-border China trade finance business is slowing, therefore we lower our loan growth estimates to 8-9% in FY12-13E (from 9-12%).
Regional ASEAN underlying loan volumes (Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia) remain robust, although we expect this will be partially offset by currency translation losses at the group level from the continued strength of SGD vs USD (+6.5% in FY12E and +2.5% in FY13E).
Lower margins: We believe margins will come under pressure due to 1) rising funding costs from deposit competition led by foreign banks (promotional SGD time deposit rates ~1%), 2) pressure on loan yields as corporate lending slows while lower-yielding mortgage growth remains strong, and 3) the impact of lower interest rates in key operating geographies (e.g. China rate cuts in June/July 2012).
We forecast 7bp y/y contraction in both FY12E and FY13E and 4-7bp q/q margin contraction in 3Q12E.
Less positive outlook: We believe Singapore bank’s funding strength bodes well longer-term but is a near-term drag on margin and profitability as loan growth slows. We see greater risk on the downside to our 3Q12E earnings estimates (reporting season begins 1 Nov with DBS). We cut our FY13-14E earnings estimates by 5-7% on average and are 3-4% below Bloomberg consensus.
Junior
http://sbr.com.sg/economy/news/brace...oduction-index
Singapore Business Review
ECONOMY | Staff Reporter, Singapore
Published: 1 hour 48 min ago
Brace yourselves for another disappointing industrial production index
Which sector is the culprit this time?
According to DBS, the industrial production index for Sep12 will probably fall short of expectation.
Here's more from DBS:
Based on the advance GDP estimate for the manufacturing sector growth in the third quarter, a 1.7% YoY rise has been priced in.
But we reckon that the headline number could disappoint with a reading of just 1.4% YoY judging from the poor export performance in the month.
The non-oil domestic exports for Sep12 contracted 3.4 YoY. Sequentially, though export sales did bounce back by 1.6% MoM sa, compared to a drastic 9.1% plunge the month before, it fell short of expectation (consensus: 2.8%).
Electronics export sales have continued to decline while the sales for pharmaceutical products have been lacklustre. The manufacturing sector is definitely not out of the wood yet.
Frankly, with the world still stuck in its economic grief, it’s tough for the sector. Top lines will not see significant improvement in the near term unless global business cycle turns around.
The year end festive season demand may offer some respite but it will be modest. Though the recent slew of government stimulus measures may offer some upsides, it takes time for the effect to trickle through.
For now, manufacturers are going through lean times and that should be manifested in the headline number.
More importantly, if production output growth falls short of expectation, expect the GDP growth for the third quarter to be par down further. As it is, the official estimate is for a contraction of 1.5% QoQ saar.
Junior
OCBC, UOB and now DBS all have shrinking net interest margins, lower net interest income and plunging earnings growth. The probability of mortgage rates hike soon is high.
http://sbr.com.sg/financial-services...te-faster-rate
Singapore Business Review
FINANCIAL SERVICES | Staff Reporter, Singapore
Published: 3 hours 5 min ago
DBS' earnings growth to decelerate at a faster rate
Net interest income will suffer too.
According to Barclays, net interest income could disappoint due to broad-based margin compression (both domestically in Singapore and in Greater China), and slowing corporate lending and cross-border trade business.
Here's more from Barclays:
The proposed acquisition of Bank Danamon is still subject to regulatory approval, and we see execution and integration risk down the track.
Margin pressure on both offshore and onshore RMB business
We believe DBS’s earnings growth will decelerate at a faster rate than peers’ due to its larger exposure to China and Hong Kong (Greater China accounts for 34% of total loans).
The bank’s onshore and offshore RMB business will be affected by China’s interest rate cuts in June/July and rising offshore RMB deposit costs in Hong Kong (where CNH time deposit rates exceed 3.5%).
Moreover, we see slowing demand for corporate and trade credit. Our China economics team, led by Yiping Huang, believes that slowing growth of new loans in China is being caused by weak corporate demand and cautious banking lending.
Growth in China’s trade activity has also slowed substantially to just 3% y/y in 3Q12 (vs 17% y/y in FY11). As such, we expect weakening demand for corporate loans and trade finance going forward.
Junior
http://sbr.com.sg/financial-services...take-deep-dive
Singapore Business Review
FINANCIAL SERVICES | Staff Reporter, Singapore
Published: 34 min 21 sec ago
This graph strikingly shows banks are going to take a deep dive
Weak momentum is here to stay.
According to DBS Vickers, although a technical recession was averted, momentum is weak.
Here's more from DBS Vickers:
Based on our correlation analysis where loan growth lags GDP growth by 4-6 quarters, loan growth is likely to moderate further in 2013.
We have also imputed slower mortgage loan growth arising from the recent property cooling measures. Hence, this leads us to cut FY13-14F loan growth to 8% (from 10%).
Banks' earnings taking a deep dive. Click image to enlarge.
Junior
http://sbr.com.sg/economy/news/expec...nisters-office
Singapore Business Review
ECONOMY | Staff Reporter, Singapore
Published: 1 hour 7 min ago
Expect Singapore growth to slow as economy matures: Prime Ministers' Office
Above 5% growth will be a thing of the past.
Speaking at the Institute of Policy Studies Forum on Tuesday (Oct 23), Minister of Prime Minister's Office, said that while Singapore have historically attained above 5 percent GDP growth over the last few decades, with an average workforce growth of about 3.6 percent each year, we cannot expect similarly high growth going forward.
"Going forward, we expect growth to slow as our economy matures and we no longer enjoy the demographic dividend of the previous decades. . The Economic Strategies Committee has set a growth target of 3 to 5 percent a year over this decade, coming from 1 to 2 percent workforce growth and 2 to 3 percent productivity growth," she said.
"To maintain our economic vitality, we will need a steep improvement in productivity, complemented by a calibrated inflow of foreign worker," she added.
Minister Fu said that quality growth requires collaboration between the Government, businesses and unions to drive productivity improvements, up-skill our workers and encourage more residents to enter and stay in the workforce.
A calibrated flow-through of transient foreign workers, she added, can also anchor new industries, take up jobs that support our social and economic needs, and forge a diverse workforce that drives dynamism and new ideas.
Junior
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stori...233404/1/.html
S Pass workers may face tightening measures: Tan Chuan-Jin
Channel News Asia
By Sailfulbahri Ismail | Posted: 25 October 2012 1407 hrs
SINGAPORE: Acting Manpower Minister Tan Chuan-Jin said there will be no U-turn on the tightening of foreign worker inflow into Singapore.
He hinted that foreign workers in the S Pass category may face further tightening measures as early as the first quarter of 2013.
S Pass holders are mid-level workers earning at least S$2,000 a month.
Statistics from the Manpower Ministry showed that the number of S Pass holders rose from nearly 114,000 last year to about 128,000, as of June this year.
For the first half of this year, the number of Employment Pass holders dipped from 175,400 to 174,700.
Mr Tan said it is likely that companies are using S Passes to bring in more junior-level professionals, managers and executives (PMEs).
He said: "I've mentioned before the S Pass is a sector we are not totally comfortable with, because there's a lot of transference of lower (level) Employment Pass into S Pass and we are now exploring measures to perhaps tighten that segment."
Speaking at the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) convention on Thursday, Mr Tan explained the government is neither trying to close the tap completely nor reducing the current numbers.
The government has always been moderating the increases to a sustainable rate, one that enables businesses to grow, he said.
Mr Tan said his ministry will continue to listen to feedback from businesses and exercise flexibility where possible, as long as it does not compromise Singapore's long term objectives.
He also assured businesses the government will manage the pace of manpower tightening carefully.
Mr Tan noted that if tightening is too aggressive, many businesses will fold and if it is too slow, the economy will lose the momentum for change, so a careful balance is needed.
To moderate the impact on companies, the government makes incremental changes and announce these changes early and provide time for companies to adjust.
Mr Tan also explained why the government tightened foreign worker supply.
He said Singapore cannot continue to rely on low cost foreign labour to grow the economy.
The price advantage that companies offer cannot be based just on lower cost, as Singapore cannot out-compete its neighbours, who will always have more ready access to low-cost labour.
Mr Tan also said over-reliance on low-cost labour imposes hidden costs on the economy and on the society.
It reduces motivation to innovate, raise productivity and move up the value chain.
Mr Tan said the government will continue to support SMEs to grow by being more productive.
While more than nine on 10 SMEs polled were aware of the government productivity drive, only slightly more than one in 10 said they eventually benefit the schemes.
Some of the reasons cited include having to deal with a tedious application process.
Mr Tan said over the next few months, the government will look at how to administer such schemes better.
- CNA/ck/xq
Junior
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stori...233397/1/.html
S'pore's industrial output down 2.5% on-year in Sept
Channel News Asia
Posted: 25 October 2012 1311 hrs
SINGAPORE: Singapore's industrial production declined 2.5 per cent on-year in September, performing worse than economists' expectation of a 1.9 per cent increase.
This decline follows a 2.3 per cent drop in manufacturing output in August.
On a month-on-month seasonally adjusted basis, the Economic Development Board (EDB) said industrial production fell 1.8 per cent in September.
The weaker performance was mainly due to contraction in the electronics and the biomedical manufacturing clusters.
EDB said the electronics cluster's output contracted 12.2 per cent on-year in September.
This as world electronics demand remained weak in the face of global economic uncertainties.
Output of the biomedical manufacturing cluster fell 6.9 per cent on-year in September, dragged down by a decline in the pharmaceuticals segment.
Meanwhile, output of the transport engineering cluster grew 16.1 per cent on-year in September.
This on the back of better performance across all segments, including aerospace and marine & offshore engineering segments.
- CNA/ck
Newbie
HI Seletar bro, appreciate your effort to remind the guys here constantly about the uncertain market conditions and to be more prudent.
However, someone once said that many time, market prices are not determined by market fundamentals but market sentiments. What is your take on that?
Music of the night
obvious mr seletar has a sour sentiment right now
Ride at your own risk !!!
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
