Dasin Retail Trust ("Dasin") made a shocking announcement on Sunday (20th March 2022) that it has entered into a non-binding memorandum of understanding ("MOU") with Wuhu Yuanche Bisheng investment Centre ("Purchaser") to explore the sales of Shiqi Metro Mall and Xiaolan Metro Mall in Guandong Province. This was a big surprise to me as instead of announcing whether the current syndicated loan (that has expired on 19th March 2022) has been extended for another 3 months, it went on to announce this first. Anyway, this is a sure sign that the syndicated loans bankers must have some serious concern on the entire Dasin for them to be only willing to give short-term extensions for the past 2 rounds and after another 3 months, no progress has been made. I will put up some points to take note of h

2021 wasn’t a great year for REITs. When everyone thought that the worst was over, the new variants Delta and Omicron emerged. This resulted in the tightening of pandemic measures in Singapore and the rest of the world. The new variants caught everyone by surprise, especially investors with exposure to REITs. REITs with a heavy concentration in the retail and office sectors remained laggards in terms of recovery as workers continued to work from home. Travel bubbles have helped but it wasn’t sufficient to stage a full recovery of tourist arrivals, so hospitality assets remain depressed. Industrial REITs with logistics and data centre assets, which benefited from lockdowns in 2020, did poorly in 2021. Performance of selected Singapore REITs. The returns in the chart don’t co

This is a follow up on my previous post on Dasin Retail Trust ("Dasin") on 18th September 2021 with regard to its debt crisis of S$500Mil since the syndicated bankers were willing to only grant a short term extension of 5 months from July 2021. The day of reckoning for Dasin approaches this week with the bank loan officially being in default on 19th December 2021 if it is unable to secure support from the syndicated bankers. Up till today, there is still no news being released by Dasin's new Trust Manager, Sino Ocean on SGX. Dasin's senior management has been silent since the last announcement made to the public on 7th November 2021 on the change in new Trust Manager. Unit prices for Dasin also dropped sharply and is now near its all time low at S$0.375 per unit in stark contrast to S$0.78

Technical Analysis of FTSE ST REIT Index (FSTAS351020) FTSE ST Real Estate Investment Trusts (FTSE ST REIT Index) decreased slightly from 876.88 to 842.13 (-3.96%) compared to the last month update. Currently the Singapore REIT index is still trading with a range between 816 and 890. As for now, Short term direction: Sideway. Immediate Support at 816, followed by 775. Immediate Resistance at 890. Previous chart on FTSE ST REIT index can be found in the last post: Singapore REIT Fundamental Comparison Table on September 4, 2021. Fundamental Analysis of 38 Singapore REITs The following is the compilation of 38 Singapore REITs with colour coding of the Distribution Yield, Gearing Ratio and Price to NAV Ratio. Note 1: The Financial Ratio are based on past data and there are lagging indica

Technical Analysis of FTSE ST REIT Index (FSTAS351020) FTSE ST Real Estate Investment Trusts (FTSE ST REIT Index) decreased slightly from 882.31 to 876.88 (-0.62%) compared to the last month update. Currently the Singapore REIT index is still trading with a range between 816 and 890. As for now, Short term direction: Sideway. Immediate Support at 816, followed by 775. Immediate Resistance at 890. Previous chart on FTSE ST REIT index can be found in the last post: Singapore REIT Fundamental Comparison Table on August 7, 2021. Fundamental Analysis of 38 Singapore REITs The following is the compilation of 38 Singapore REITs with colour coding of the Distribution Yield, Gearing Ratio and Price to NAV Ratio. Note 1: The Financial Ratio are based on past data and there are lagging indicator

This blog is in reply to a comment by a reader who wants to know my opinion on what he thinks are "poor governance and regulatory oversight by MAS, DBS (its sole bookrunner) and SGX" in the case Eagle Hospitality Trust. Read his full comment: HERE.... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Dasin Retail Trust (“Dasin”) is in financial crisis. SGX has raised queries regarding its weak balance sheet with cash on hand and other short term assets being unable to fulfill its current liabilities. Apparently, a huge sum of loan financed by local and offshore bankers had expired and granted only a temporary extension till 19 December 2021. The local China banker lender had withdrawn itself for new facilities and this left the offshore bankers shell-shocked and being placed on guard that there may be fundamental weaknesses or other “surprises” waiting to spring on them in Dasin. Not surprisingly, Dasin’s unit prices has thus plummeted from S$0.785 per unit as of beginning of the year to the current S$0.415 per unit (as at 17 September 2021) which is a whopping 47% plunge in

 Singapore stocks: Once bitten, twice shyWhy retail investors are shifting away from the local bourse, and how SGX plans to stay aheadUMA DEVIumadevi@sph.com.sg@UmaDeviBTAS a seasoned stock market investor since the 1990s, Ken is no stranger to market fluctuations and paper losses. As of today, the 56-year-old has lost some S$300,000 in the Singapore stock market, while his investments in the United States and Hong Kong have given him sizeable profits. "Retail investors don't have much confidence here, they're getting toasted," he tells The Business Times. "I've lost so much money that I'm scared."While Singapore continues to be lauded as a financial hub, drawing big business and billions in foreign investment, the local stock market appears to have lost some of its appeal to retail,

InvestFair 2021 is happening! The first edition of InvestFair virtual features speakers and industry experts to bring across insights to WHERE and WHAT to invest in the current market. Click on the above banner to register for the event now. Technical Analysis of FTSE ST REIT Index (FSTAS351020) FTSE ST Real Estate Investment Trusts (FTSE ST REIT Index) increased slightly from 868.08 to 882.31 (+1.64%) compared to the last month update. Currently the Singapore REIT index is still trading with a range between 816 and 890. As for now, Short term direction: Sideway and Up. Immediate Support at 816, followed by 775. Immediate Resistance at 890. Previous chart on FTSE ST REIT index can be found in the last post: Singapore REIT Fundamental Comparison Table on July 4, 2021. Fundamental An

I used to be a unit-holder of Sabana REIT back in 2011. I recalled its unit price dropped after IPO (@ S$1.05 per unit) and then I started accumulating units for investment. Anyway, I held onto Sabana REIT for a short time due to its high dividend yield after the decline in price post IPO. But once I observed that the previous management seems to be having trouble getting new tenants and a potential cut-back in dividends, I got extremely worried and exited towards the end of 2012. But if one has been holding on to Sabana REIT since IPO, the total returns if inclusive of dividends is actually just a loss of less than 10% albeit the unit price dropping by more than half- so still not too bad. Since the end of March'21, I have started taking up a small investment stake into Sabana REIT despit

1. Write off remaining estimated residual value for Eagle Hospitality Trust ("EHT")- S$20KI have done a full write off of S$20K of my remaining investment in EHT. Latest update from DBS Trustee is selling off of most of the hotel properties (15 out of 18 properties) via a "stalking horse" bid. The stalking horse bid is a technique use to reserve a minimum floor price during upcoming auction.  The opening bid is way below even the recent market valuation and stapled securities owners will not get anything back after paying off bankers and creditors at such a low price. Good news is that the 3 remaining hotels do not need to be sold off immediately under duress pricing as apparently, they can still be operational and not under chapter 11. Clearly, the only viable option was to appo

1. Friend of StocksCafeI finally decided to subscribe to become a "friend" of StocksCafe and gave up on my attempt to track dividends manually on Excel spreadsheet which is causing too much grief over the years. Time to fall in along with modern times. It turns out that StocksCafe is extremely easy to use and allows one to keep many different portfolios. The dividends feature also ease the mammoth effort to track it manually as well as give a projected dividend forecast for the next 12 months in it.While StocksCafe allows data import, I decided to take the easy way out for this migration and just key all equities at the high level by assigning an average cost as the first transaction for the respective purchases. So effectively from 1 January 2021, my profit and losses with dividends will

Well, this is a complete waste of time and efforts for all stakeholders of Eagle Hospitality Trust ("EHT"). All resolutions were defeated by the stapled security holders as Resolution 1 to Resolution 4 are inter-dependent. Stapled security holders neither wanted a new REIT Manager & their rescue plan nor wanted to liquidate the Trust which is already running out of working capital. 88.39% do not want to liquidate the Trust even thought they rejected the rescue plan. However, this brought the Trust closer to creditors' winding up due to funding issue.On closer examination, resolution 2 on proposed REIT Manager base fee, which required an extraordinary support of 75%, caused the downfall of the entire EGM to appoint the new manager. My thoughts are that unit-holders are not being rationa

The recent announcement of SC Global coming into the picture as White Knight is good news for Eagle Hospitality Trust ("EHT"). SC currently controls the managers of two listed real estate investment trusts in the region, Japan Hotel REIT Investment Corporation and Thailand Prime Property Freehold and Leasehold REIT. It is very strong financially and has the networking and experiences to restructure EHT.The bad news now is how much will be the placement units issued to SC Global for them to re-capitalise EHT and at what price. Current unit holders will suffer from massive dilution in their original holdings if the new unit issuance is based on recent valuation report of the hotels. But no choice, given that SC Global need to have a significant stakes in order to water down the current units

Eagle Hospitality Trust ("EHT") finally released the details on the restructuring plan on Dec 9, 2020, along with a 194 pages circular. The proposed new REIT manager is SCCPRE Hospitality REIT Management Pte Ltd ("SCCPRE"), a member of SC Group. 7 key highlights EHT unitholders need to know:1. SCCPRE rescue plan is straight forward and does not involve equity raising at the kick off stage. They will negotiate for an 18mth bridging loan of US$125Mil @ around 10.25% interest rate per annum from a group of lenders led by the Bank of America to re-start hotel operations in the stabilization phase before moving on to the growth phase. This represented the best proposals received so far as it preserves value within EHT with minimal dilution impact due to current weak market sentiment. 

First REIT has to be one of the most disastrous performing REITs over the past 3 years (the only worse one is Eagle Hospitality). From a record high S$1.40 per unit in 2018, it has now dropped to just a mere former shadow of itself of S$0.40 per unit as at 3rd December 2020. When the detailed rental restructuring plan was released on 29 November 2020, it crashed the previous week ending market valuation of S$0.475 per unit. What was released in the announcement on that fateful day was apparently worse than the basic expectation of most investors.1. Sponsor and main lessees Lippo Karawaci & Siloam in troubleLippo Karawaci is having cashflow challenges due to COVID-19. It is having problems selling its properties in development amidst the current pandemic and also having problems divesti

This is an update on the valuation of Eagle Hospitality Trust ("EHT") in the event of forced liquidation and also an estimation of the fair market value once it is removed from suspension.Based on the Q3 financial results released, I have updated the various numbers on the statement of financial position.Elaboration on Financial Projection1. I have revised the valuation of the investment properties to S$734Mil from the original S$1.27Bil. This is a significant drop in fair valuation of S$533Mil amidst COVID-19.2. Assuming no more hidden liabilities, then immediate liquidation if a buyer can be found will be around US$0.119 per unit. 3. If the business can continue running and valuation recovers as denoted in the various columns on the right side, investors will be able to recover more

It is coming to almost the end of 2020. COVID seems to have become part and parcel of our lives. Everyday, seeing everyone wearing masks and the non-stop reporting of ever increasing 2nd or 3rd wave record breaking infections and fatalities overseas reminds us that the battle with the deadly virus is far from over. Even right now, the travel bubble between Singapore and Hong Kong which was supposed to commence today got postponed by at least another 2 weeks due to a new severe outbreak declared by the Hong Kong government. SIA and Cathay Pacific are most likely to decline slightly in the opening of the stock markets Monday morning.  I remain optimistic that the immediate emergency approval of Pfizer and Moderna COVID vaccine in December 2020 will pave the way for an eventual defeat of

What a dramatic twist that is even better than the Korean drama for the latest development at Eagle Hospitality Trust ("EHT") as announced by MAS on 26 October 2020. During my last posting, I have touched briefly on various issues including the possible agenda of MAS and the Commercial Affairs Department ("CAD") relating to the EHT Trust saga by kicking off with the arrest of the directors of EHT in order to send a message to 2 ex-directors Taylor Woods and Howard Wu of the sponsor Urban Commons and also as an announcement publicly to all stakeholders. It turns out that my hunch was correct, MAS has continued with a beautifully executed phase 2 of its strategic move, that is, to kick out the current Manager of EHT which is controlled by Taylor Woods and Howard Wu by quoting multiple breach

The Eagle Hospitality Trust (“EHT”) drama climaxed recently with the arrest of current and prior directors by the Commercial Affairs Department (“CAD”) of the Singapore Police as part of their investigation into possible breach of Section 203 and Section 331 of the Securities and Futures Act. Now, Section 203 deals with responsibilities of the directors in making necessary disclosures on the SGX to investors whereas Section 331 spells out the penalties for directors found to have committed the offence as aforesaid mentioned. Many current unitholders have been very angry with the directors and you can see some folks calling for them to step down but I think people are going after the wrong directors.1. What is CAD and MAS trying to do here with the arrest?Personally, I think th