The opening of Jewel Changi Airport has been the talk of the town recently. The new mega-mall located at Changi Airport features the tallest indoor waterfall (at 40 metres), an indoor forest, and over 280 new shops and restaurants. Jewel is 49%-owned by CapitaLand, one of Asia’s largest real estate companies, which manages a portfolio of integrated developments, shopping malls, lodging, offices, homes, real estate investment trusts (REITs) and funds worth over S$100 billion. While Jewel has certainly made it onto the headlines and Instagram feeds everywhere, the bigger news for investors is CapitaLand’s S$11 billion acquisition of Ascendas-Singbridge (ASB). ASB is a real estate company which manages a portfolio of business/logistics parks, lodging, commercial, retail and reside

Last Friday, Sheng Siong Group Ltd (SGX: OV8) announced its 2019 first quarter earnings update. As a quick introduction, Sheng Siong is one of the largest supermarket chains in Singapore. The company’s network of 54 stores are primarily located at the heartlands of the island. The company was established in 1985 and listed in 2011. Here, let’s look at 10 things that investors should know from its latest earnings update. Revenue for the quarter improved 10.1% year-on-year to S$ 251.4 million. Gross profit improved 9.6% year-on-year to S$ 65.5 million. Similarly, net profit grew 6.0% year-on-year to S$19.4 million. Consequently, earnings per share (EPS) was up by 4.9% year-on-year to 1.29 cents. Gross margin margin for the quarter was 26.1%, 0.1% lower than that of last year. For th

Ascendas India Trust (SGX: CY6U) is the only trust listed in Singapore that invests solely in India. Despite the weakening Indian rupee against the Singapore dollar, Ascendas India Trust has managed to deliver growth in distribution per unit over the last six years. Although currency fluctuations remain a key risk for investors of Ascendas India Trust, some positives may make Ascendas India Trust a worthwhile investment. A stable portfolio Ascendas India Trust has a well-diversified portfolio across five cities in India. In total, it has 337 tenants at its seven IT parks and six warehouses. Notably, its largest tenant only contributes 7% of the portfolio base rent, and hence the trust has little concentration risk. As of 31 March 2019, its portfolio also has a well-spread out lease expir

APAC Realty Ltd (SGX: CLN) is one of Singapore’s largest real estate agencies with over 6,500 salespersons providing property brokerage services for primary and secondary home sales as well as rental of residential, commercial, and industrial properties. At its current price of S$0.63, the company’s stock is trading at 42% lower than its 52 weeks high price of $1.07. If APAC Realty has a high-quality business, its current low stock price could be an investment opportunity. There’s no easy answer to that question, but one simple metric can help shed some light: return on invested capital (ROIC). A brief introduction to the ROIC In a previous article, I explained how ROIC can be used to evaluate the quality of a business. The simple idea behind the metric is that a business with a h

In the first quarter of 2019, local benchmark Straits Times Index ended flat as investors juggled between worries about higher US recession risks and the impending outcome of the US-China trade talks. The only bright spot was the S-REIT sector as it outperformed on the Fed’s dovish interest rate hike forecast. The slowdown in hike came from lower GDP growth expectations and rising unemployment, leading to the inversion of US yield curve to heighten recession fears. According to DBS, here are three investment strategies for you to jumpstart your portfolio. Investors Takeaway: 3 Investment Strategies To Jumpstart Your Portfolio By DBS Strategy 1: ‘Peak’ Interest Rate, Uncertain Growth Environment Calls For Greater Focus On Yield/Defensive Stocks According to the Fed’s dot plot, they

After ending 2018 on a bad note, the performance of the stock market in the first two months of 2019 has gave investors a reason to cheer. If you are looking to repeat the splendid performance, here are some strategies for you to consider. Investors Takeaway: 3 Strategies If You Want To Beat The Market Again By DBS Take Advantage Of Interest In S-REITs With Fed Chairman Powell re-iterating the Fed’s dovish stance to be patient on rate hikes, interest in REITs should sustain going forward. The consensus now appears to be zero rate hikes for this year as the Fed continues to monitor how the economy evolves. Previously, DBS recommended investors to focus on large cap REITs in resilient segments such as retail and industrial (warehouse and business parks). DBS likes these large cap REITs f

The US Federal Reserve has indicated that 2019 will likely see slower interest rate hikes. This comes on the back of mounting macroeconomic uncertainties, that has seen investors turn to less risky investments. This may benefit REITs in three ways: # 1 Traditionally, REITs take on a lot of debt to fund its capital-intensive property investments. Slower interest rate hikes in 2019 will ease the growing pressure on REITs, in terms of debt repayment. # 2 Markets are efficient – which means that prices of REITs would have taken into consideration that rate hikes would continue as normal. This stance of slowing down the interest rate hikes in 2019 is new information for the market, and may give REITs a boost. (Do note that most of this new information should already be priced into the markets

It was another good quarter for Ascendas India Trust (SGX: CY6U). However, the weakening Indian rupee remains an ongoing concern.

By now, many of you would have seen the numerous news articles and commentary pieces on CapitaLand’s $11 billion acquisition of Temasek’s subsidiary, Ascendas-Singbridge. This combined entity creates Asia’s largest diversified real estate group and a global top 10 real estate investment manager, with over $116 billion of assets under management (AUM), including logistics/business parks, industrial, lodging, commercial, retail and residential spaces, in more than 180 cities across 32 countries. CapitaLand Share Price CapitaLand’s share price is currently $3.30, up about 7.5% since the start of the year. In contrast, the broader market, the Straits Times Index (STI) is only up about 5.1% since the start of the year. Source: StockFacts In addition, here’s what the brokerage housesâ€