MARKET UPDATES :
- THE pick-up in Singapore’s non-oil domestic exports gathered strength to grow 2.3 per cent year on year in December 2014, after rising 0.8 per cent in November.But the momentum failed to follow through month on month as the NODX inched up only a seasonally-adjusted 0.1 per cent in December, against a 2.1 per cent increase in November.Non-electronic NODX fell month on month but the decline was outweighed by a rise in the electronic NODX, according to trade promotion agency International Enterprise Singapore.
- The Singapore economy has reached a stage of its development where it is no longer possible to expand by 5 to 6 per cent each year, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.The country will have done well if it manages to achieve annual GDP growth of 2 to 3 per cent for the next five years, Mr Lee said in an interview with the Singapore media at the Istana on Wednesday. “Domestically, we have to get used to what that means. Three per cent (growth) per year means wages will go up correspondingly, gradually, year by year. Maybe not every year, but over four to five years you will see improvements if we are successful in our policies.”
- Centurion Corporation said it is currently exploring the feasibility of spinning off a real estate investment trust (Reit) to list on the Singapore Exchange and injecting some of its workers accommodation assets into the Reit.This will allow the group to recycle capital to pursue its growth strategies across its growing accommodation business, it explained.Having a Reit to hold the stabilized assets could expand the group’s role from developing greenfield projects to managing assets.
- Noble’s share price has broken below the key S$1 mark, currently down 4.9% at S$0.975, likely weighed by worries over a prolonged drop in crude oil prices. Although Noble does not own much energy assets, it does derive a large part of its business (revenue contribution of nearly 70%) from the energy sector, where it is predominantly involved in shale gas – both logistics and trading.
- Neptune Orient Lines – Realistic chances of turnaround-:NOL could be in for better luck in FY15, with bunker fuel prices declining from US$600/ MT to less than US$300/MT in a little over six months. Given that NOL’s liner business consumes about 3m MT of bunker fuel per year, this implies significant cost savings. It has to be kept in mind though that part of the fuel price decline will be passed through to customers through lower fuel surcharges and bunker adjustment factors on long-term contracts. However, the fact that NOL has lagged its peers in terms of fuel efficiency and margins in the past means there is more room for improvement, given the razor thin margins involved.
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