The implementation of additional tariffs on Chinese imports sent markets reeling. Although trade talks are ongoing and there may still be possibilities for a deal, economists and analysts are anticipating that ramifications are beginning to bite. Amidst the uncertainties and a global economic slowdown, the STI shines as one of the most attractive markets in ASEAN to invest in, given its low price-to-earnings and high dividend yield. According to MBKE, against this backdrop, there are still some interesting names that investors can find within the small/mid-cap space. Here are five small/mid-cap stocks that MBKE thinks you should be adding into your portfolio to prepare for 2H19. Investors Takeaway: 5 Small/Mid-Cap Stocks To Add to Your Portfolio By MBKE CDL Hospitality Trusts CDL Hospit

CDL Hospitality Trust (CDLHT) is a REIT that invests in hospitality-related assets such as hotels and resorts. It currently owns 19 properties with a total of 5,088 hotel rooms across eight countries, namely Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Maldives. Singapore remains CDLHT’s largest revenue contributor, accounting for 60% of net property income. As of 31December 2018, these properties were valued at S$2.8 billion. Despite growth in incoming tourist numbers over the past few years, the Singapore hospitality sector has been weak due to an uptick in supply. This caused local hotel room rates to decline over the past four years. With supply growth expected to ease going forward, the hospitality sector is finally seeing signs of recovery. With

Following part one of this 2-part series where we highlight two of the key sectors (Financials, Industrials) to watch out for in the Singapore market, we zoom into Singaporeans’ favourite REIT sub-sectors. Among the REIT sub-sectors, the two that MBKE thinks every REIT lover should be watching out for are: Industrial REITs and hospitality REITs. Investors Takeaway: 2 REIT Sub-Sectors To Add Into Your Watchlist By MBKE Industrial REITs Continued Tailwind From Bottoming Out Of Supply Within the industrial REIT sub-sector, industrial rents have started to stabilise and should continue to bottom out. MBKE attributes this to the low supply across all asset types with demand continuing to be skewed towards high-spec properties that are close to infrastructure and transport nodes. Rents for

In the last part of this 4-part series, we focus on three REITs that underperformed in the latest quarter. But while these three REITs failed to bring any cheers to investors in 1Q19, analysts believe that the medium term outlook for these REITs remain bright. Investors Takeaway: 3 Underperforming REITs With Better Mid-term Outlook Suntec REIT Despite lower gross revenue and net property income, Suntec REIT managed to come in line with consensus expectations as higher associate and JV contributions, greater finance income and capital top-up helped Suntec REIT to put in a decent 1Q19 performance. The fall in gross revenue was due to lower convention income as Suntec REIT took a hit from fewer convention events being hosted in the last quarter. Higher sinking fund contribution also drove n

Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) are a favourite investment for Singapore investors. This is primarily due to its property-heavy investments and relatively high distribution yields. REITs Share Price Performance In 1st Half 2019 The first aspect of figuring out how REITs have done in the first half of 2019 is to look at how its share price has moved in the year-to-date (ytd) 2019. The chart below shows the price movements of the SGX S-REIT 20 Index, comprising the top 20 REITs listed in Singapore. As we can see, its share price has increased 10.3% since the start of the year, to 1337.3. However, looking at the past quarter, prices does look like it has taken a slight dip. Source: ShareInvestor In general, REITs have had a strong performance, in terms of just price appreciation, in th

At the end of April, City REIT Management, a subsidiary of City Development Ltd (CDL) purchase 50% of IREIT’s manager. City Strategic, also a subsidiary of CDL, purchase a substantial stake in IREIT itself. In November 2016, Tikehau Capital purchased a 80% stake in IReit’s manager. The rest of the stake is held by Chinese Tycoon Tong Jinquan and Soilbuild founder Lim Chap Huat. Tong Jinquan owns 297 mil units (47%), Chap Huat owns 33 mil units (5.2%), Tikehau Capital owns 52.6 mil (8.3%). In this deal, Tikehau Investment Asia Pacific bought back Tong’s stake in the manager. They then sold half the stake in the manager to City Reit Management, which is CDL’s arm in doing reit management. Now, Tikehau and City Reit owns roughly 50% each in the manager. Then, Tika

CDL Hospitality Trust (SGX: J85) reported a drop in its DPU for the latest quarter. Here's why.

CDL Hospitality Trust (SGX: J85) and Ascott Residence Trust (SGX: A68U) will be releasing results this week. Here's what to expect.

Earlier this month, the US Federal Reserve came to a decision to maintain a larger balance sheet relative to the pre-2008 crisis period. This decision to end quantitative tightening came earlier after much internal deliberation. Revising Balance Sheet Normalisation Principles The Fed also announced the revision and replacement of its balance sheet normalisation principles. It will cease downsizing its balance sheet starting from October 2019. It will focus on holding treasury securities while its holdings of mortgage-backed securities gradually run-off to zero. Starting from October 2019, principal repayments received from mortgage-backed securities would be reinvested in treasury securities, subject to a maximum of US$20 billion per month. The Fed Slamming Brakes On Interest Rate Hike In

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) recently released its Master Plan 2019 which detailed the blueprint of Singapore’s developments over the next decade. Here are four things you should know about the Master Plan 2019 and how you can invest in the right stocks to ride on the Master Plan. Turning CBD Into A ‘Work, Live And Play’ Environment Under the new Master Plan, the Central Business District (CBD) is slated to be repositioned as a 24/7 mixed-use district to be a place to work, live and play. The Singapore government has signalled its intention to convert Downtown Singapore from a commercial centre dominated by offices into one which is more mixed-use and has more vibrancy after office hours. The aim is to facilitate a work, live and play environment. Incentivising Developmen

In the last part of this 6-part series, we highlight three REITs that investors can expect more to come in FY19, despite an unsurprising performance in 4Q18. Investors Takeaway: 3 REITs Which You Can Expect More In FY19 CDL Hospitality Trust Despite FY18 net property income (NPI) declining by 3.8 percent year-on-year, CDL Hospitality Trust managed to surprise on its DPU. The weaker FY18 NPI was due to the closure of Dhevanafushi Maldives Luxury Resort in Maldives and the divestment of Mercure Brisbane and Ibis Brisbane. The New Zealand segment also suffered due to the absence of sporting events. DPU, however, increased by 0.4 percent, which was above expectations due to higher-than-expected capital distribution from the sale of Mercure and Ibis Brisbane. Going forward, CIMB forecasts Rev

For the past seven quarters, STI failed to beat earnings expectations as there were more misses than beats. However, in 4Q18, STI finished the quarter where the beats exceeded misses. That being said, the quality was less than ideal with most of the beats coming from one-off gains. Besides that, conservative estimates also helped some STI stocks to emerge as beats. Moving forward, CIMB recommends investors to invest in quality stocks that have the potential to become solid earnings beater. Investors Takeaway: 4 Large Caps To Invest In If You Are Looking For Quality CapitaLand CapitaLand finished FY18 with a strong finish, locking in ROE of 9.3 percent for the full year. With strong capital deployment from $4.1 billion worth of divestments and $6.1 billion of new investments in 2018, CIMB

S-REITs have been putting up an outstanding performance against the rest of the Singapore market. The outperformance of the SREITs so far has been due to the contribution of large and selective mid-cap REITs. DPU Growth Outlook Starting To Look Stronger Moving forward, the distribution per unit (DPU) outlook for the REIT sector continues to remain strong. CIMB projects that DPU will grow 1-2 percent in 2019 and 2020, which was stronger than the 0.5 percent growth registered in 2018. The growth will be achieved through a combination of positive rental growth as well as contributions from new acquisitions made in 2018. Laggard Plays In The Office And Hospitality Sectors In terms of strategy, CIMB recommends investors to continue being overweight on S-REITs as S-REIT share price will continu

By Mak Yuen Teen On 14 March 2019, Datapulse Technology Limited’s (“Datapulse”) shareholders will vote on the company’s proposed acquisition of Hotel Aropa in Seoul, together with six other resolutions. Before going into the resolutions, we should reflect on what has taken place up to now. In November 2017, Ms Ng Siew Hong (NSH) bought 29 percent of the shares at 55 cents per share, at a more than 50 percent premium. Soon after, Datapulse bought Wayco, which it is now selling back after incurring considerable fees and expenses.  This was a deal recommended by NSH. Did NSH pay 55 cents per share to get Datapulse to buy Wayco (and possibly the other Way Group companies) because she truly believed that Wayco and the hair case business was the future for Datapulse? In my opinion, the