ACN Newswire
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Champion REIT Announces 2022 Interim Results

indie
4 minutes

HONG KONG, Aug 19, 2022 - (ACN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - Champion Real Estate Investment Trust (Stock Code: 2778), the owner of Three Garden Road and Langham Place, announces its financial results for the six months ended 30 June 2022.Summary of financial results 1H 2022 1H 2021 ChangeTotal Rental Income (HK$ million) 1,196 1,260 - 5.0%Net Property Income (HK$ million) 1,044 1,137 - 8.2%Distributable Income (HK$ million) 704 790 - 10.9%Distribution per unit (HK$) 0.1064 0.1197 - 11.1% 30 Jun 2022 31 Dec 2021 ChangeGross Value of Portfolio (HK$ million) 64,761 65,296 - 0.8%Net Asset Value per unit (HK$) 8.15 8.25 - 1.2%Gearing Ratio 22.3% 22.9% - 0.6ppOverview As Hong Kong saw an overwhelming surge of the highly transmissible Omicron variant in early 2022, tenants under the Trust also experienced substantial disruptions in their operations in the first half of the year. Amid the fifth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the already subdued office and retail leasing activities were further dampened due to prolonged and tightened social distancing measures imposed by the government since early January. While we observed signs of recovery in tenants' sales and footfall after the relaxat...

ACN Newswire
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Save The Economy by Rental Deferral?

indie
6 minutes

HONG KONG, Jul 21, 2022 - (ACN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - The PolyU DBA Alumni Association Limited ("DBAAA") has today announced the results of its research coupled with an online survey related to the HKSAR Government's "Temporary Protection Measures for Business Tenants (COVID-19 Pandemic)". Referring to the findings, DBAAA supports HKSAR Government not to extend the rental deferral plan when the interest rate is anticipated to be going up.According to recent studies in similar relieve measures adopted by many other countries, tenants of viable business can be benefited by enabling them to survive during short term financial crisis of the Pandemic. However, if the rescue measures are extended beyond their originally planned expiry, it would inevitably create inefficiencies in the property market in the long run. Support to tenants of little realistic chance of recovery may impede the allocation of resources to healthy tenants and restrict productivity growth. It could discourage new entries and reduce competitiveness of more efficient tenants. Many studies revealed that market adjusted and responded much quicker than expected. Landlords were willing to provide substantive reli...

ACN Newswire
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Broad Homes – diversified products to help green and low-carbon development of urban and rural construction

indie
6 minutes

HONG KONG, Mar 14, 2022 - (ACN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - The year 2022 is an important year to enter into the comprehensive construction of a socialist modern country and march towards the second hundred-year goal, and it is remarkable how the construction industry can take a new "road to catch up". As the promoter and practitioner of China's construction industrialization, Changsha Broad Homes Industrial Group Co., Ltd. (hereafter referred to as Broad Homes, ticker 2163.HK) makes urban and rural spaces more efficient, green, environmental friendly and sustainable with its constantly upgraded and improved multi-product matrix and technology system.Broad Homes BOX Modul Guesthouse in Baimian Mountain Tourist AttractionDiversified product system to help urban and rural construction green low-carbon developmentDuring this year's National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Congress (also known as "National Two Sessions"), green and low-carbon are amongst the most discussed topics. The government work report put forward a number of specific tasks to achieve dual carbon goals. Industrialization of construction is a necessary path for the construction indust...

JCN Newswire
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Toyota Expands C+pod Sales to All Customers in Japan

ruth
2 minutes

Toyota City, Japan, Dec 23, 2021 - (JCN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) announced today that it will expand sales of the "C+pod" ultra-compact battery electric vehicle (BEV) to all corporate and municipal customers, and now the general public as well, from December 23. The vehicle was launched for select corporate and municipal customers in December last year. All vehicles will be offered via lease contracts(1), starting from Toyota vehicle dealers and Toyota Rental & Lease Agencies throughout Japan(2).The C+pod is an environmentally-friendly two-seater BEV. Smaller than a minivehicle, it has been designed as a mobility option for a diverse group of daily users who frequently travel short distances with few passengers. This might include young, single new drivers, or older individuals who may be nervous about driving.It has been well received by customers who have used it, especially for its ease of handling, environmental friendliness, and full range of safety and security features despite its ultra-compact body. We are now ready to deliver the C+pod to a wider range of customers, so we have decided to expand the sales target to all customers na...

SeaPRwire

When the property market turns ‘crazy’

elean
4 minutes

(BLOOMBERG) - Soaring prices. Competition. Desperation. The dramatic conditions for US home buyers during the past year are now spilling into the market for rentals. Landlords from Tampa, Florida, to Memphis, Tennessee, and Riverside, California, are jacking up rents at record speeds. For each listing, multiple people apply. Some renters are forced to check into hotels while they hunt after losing out too many times. "Any desirable rental is going within hours, just like the desirable sales," said Ms Shannon Dopkins, a Realtor in Tampa. "One woman passed up on a place that was beat up with water damage. Somebody else decided to rent it." After weakening early in the coronavirus pandemic as the economy faltered and young people rode out lockdowns with family, the rental market is now seeing record demand. Rents on new leases surged 17 per cent in July compared to what the prior tenant paid, reaching the highest level on record, according to RealPage. The gains reflect competition for a resource that's getting harder to obtain: a place to live. With prices soaring in the for-sale market, and bidding wars proliferating, would-be buyers on the losing end are being forced back into rent...

SeaPRwire

Global investors bet on China’s rental property amid shifting political winds

elean
4 minutes

SHANGHAI (REUTERS) - Beijing's regulatory firestorm is hitting large swathes of China's economy, but global investors including Blackstone and Warburg Pincus are ramping up bets on Chinese rental properties, judging the political wind is blowing in their favour. China has cracked down on private tutoring, brought monopolistic tech giants to their knees, and stepped up curbs on home buying. But Beijing is wooing capital to help provide rental housing and is attracting plenty of institutional interest. In China, "people need to be housed, but houses have become too expensive to buy. You need to have housing for rent," said Graeme Torre, managing director of APG Asset Management, which has entered China's rental housing market in partnership with US property developer and operator Greystar. "We like to invest with policy rather than trying to avoid it or invest against it. So I'd like to think it's politically correct," Mr Torre said, estimating APG will commit around 1 billion euros (S$1.59 billion) into Chinese rental housing over the next 3-5 years. Centralised long-term rental apartments - or multifamily as they're called in the United States - are the best solution to the housing...

SeaPRwire

800 more interim rental flats under HDB scheme but qualifying household income capped at $7,000

aseanpr
5 minutes

SINGAPORE - An additional 800 interim rental Housing Board flats will be set aside for families affected by Build-To-Order (BTO) construction delays, but there will be stricter eligibility criteria for those wishing to apply for these units. To apply for a unit under the Parenthood Provisional Housing Scheme (PPHS) from Wednesday (Aug 4) onwards, the household combined monthly income cannot be more than $7,000, said the HDB on Tuesday. The income reflected at the point of sales application for the BTO flat will be the basis for consideration, said HDB. Households whose incomes have fallen to $7,000 and below since their sales application may contact HDB directly. The household income ceiling is to ensure that the flats, which are highly subsidised, are allocated to those who are less able to afford renting a flat on the open market, said HDB. The PPHS provides interim housing to households awaiting the completion of their BTO flats with units allocated by ballot. Rents range from $400 for a two-room flat in Marsiling, $600 for a three-roomer in Hougang and $1,500 for a four-room unit in Tiong Bahru. Priority will be given to married couples with children aged 18 and under in the se...

SeaPRwire

7,000 market stallholders to get rental waivers to cope with decline in business during Covid-19 curbs

aseanpr
2 minutes

SINGAPORE - Market stallholders will be getting some help in coping with reduced business during this period of Covid-19 curbs. A month's worth of rental waivers will be given to around 7,000 market stallholders in markets managed by the National Environment Agency (NEA) or NEA-appointed operators. This was announced by Dr Amy Khor, Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment, on Thursday (June 10). In a Facebook post, Dr Khor noted that during the ongoing phase of heightened alert to stem the spread of Covid-19, market stallholders were as affected by lower footfall as cooked-food stallholders. Rental waivers for cooked-food stallholders in hawker centres, which have seen significant decline in business, had previously been announced in May. The waivers covered half the amount payable for cooked-food stall rentals for May and June. The latest announcement extends the current waiver scheme to market stallholders. Five months' worth of rental waivers were also given to both market and cooked-food stallholders last year. This aimed to reduce the operating costs for these stallholders amid flagging business due to restrictions during the Covid-19 crisis. Dr Khor, w...

SeaPRwire

18 years’ jail, caning for man who sexually abused two young brothers he housed at his flat

aseanpr
4 minutes

SINGAPORE - A jobless man who housed two young brothers and their mother at his flat, but sexually abused the boys during their two-month stay, was sentenced to 18 years' jail and 24 strokes of the cane on Tuesday (April 13). The man, who was the godfather of the two boys, had pleaded guilty last month to two charges of sexual assault by penetration for acts he committed between October and December 2019 on the older boy, who was 12 at the time. In sentencing, High Court judge Mavis Chionh said the man had preyed on a vulnerable victim who was unlikely to raise complaints. The older boy had a quiet personality and was described as being "slow", she noted. Justice Chionh added that the man had abused his position as a quasi-parental figure to the victim. "Instead of providing the victim with a home in which he could find comfort and security, the accused cynically abused the relationship of responsibility and trust he had with the victim. He exploited his access to the victim for the reprehensible purpose of satisfying his own sexual urges," she said. The judge took into account three other charges - one for sexually assaulting the older boy, one for molesting the younger boy, and o...

SeaPRwire
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Community-organised dialogue suggests ways to help lower-income, bridge social divide

aseanpr
5 minutes

SINGAPORE - Most residents who live in public rental housing find their Housing Board blocks only have rental units. This gives families little opportunity to get to know others in their transient neighbourhood, and they may feel isolated as a result. Ways to overcome this - such as integrating rental HDB flats into blocks of Build-to-Order flats for purchase and having a special fund that tenants can tap on for community activities - were among suggestions by participants to address the needs of lower-income communities and boost social solidarity at a virtual dialogue on Thursday night (Feb 18). Among the participants was Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh, who welcomed these ideas and said those living in rental units should not have to face stigma, and their situations should not be construed as something out of the ordinary. They could also be in temporary straits. "But that may not be how the cookie crumbles," added the Workers' Party secretary-general and MP for Aljunied GRC. "We need to accept that there are imperfections in society and... we should be more open-minded as a people. That may not be an end point but at least it will be a better place than where we were," h...

ACN Newswire
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Champion REIT Announces 2020 Annual Results

indie
4 minutes

HONG KONG, Feb 18, 2021 - (ACN Newswire) - Champion Real Estate Investment Trust (stock code: 2778), the owner of Three Garden Road and Langham Place, announces its financial results for year ended 31 December 2020.Ms. Ada Wong, CEO of Champion REITSummary of financial results FY 2020 FY 2019 ChangeTotal Rental Income (HK$ mil) 2,633 2,778 - 5.2%Net Property Income (HK$ mil) 2,347 2,481 - 5.4%Distributable Income (HK$ mil) 1,554 1,648 - 5.7%Distribution per unit (HK$) 0.2500 0.2662 - 6.1% 31 Dec 2020 31 Dec 2019 ChangeGross Value of Portfolio (HK$ mil) 67,318 81,178 - 17.1%Net Asset Value per unit (HK$) 8.61 11.04 - 22.0%Gearing Ratio 23.0% 18.0% + 5.0ppOverview The unprecedented and protracted COVID-19 pandemic had put our business as well as that of our tenants in a precarious situation. Against the backdrop of a global economic downturn, Champion REIT recorded a decline in distributable income by 5.7% to HK$1,554 million and distribution per unit ("DPU") dropped 6.1% to HK$0.2500. Three Garden Road Three Garden Road maintained the rental income at the stable level of HK$1,518 million in 2020, (2019: HK$1,512 million) and achieved a mild positive rental reversion. Average passing...

SeaPRwire
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4,600 public rental-flat families became HDB home owners over the past five years

aseanpr
4 minutes

SINGAPORE - About 4,600 families in public rental homes have become owners of Housing Board (HDB) flats over the past five years through various housing schemes and grants. By 2023, around 1,000 families will be offered help by HDB to do the same. Among the 4,600 households, three in four bought a flat directly from the HDB while the remaining bought a resale flat on the open market, said the HDB on Sunday (Feb 7). More than half of these households bought a three-room flat while a quarter bought four-room flats, it added. About two-thirds of the rental households that bought a flat had tapped housing grants such as the Enhanced CPF Housing Grant (EHG), which was introduced in September 2019 and dispenses up to $80,000 in grants to eligible buyers. Others had also tapped the previous Additional CPF Housing Grant (AHG) and Special CPF Housing Grant (SHG), which gave up to $40,000 in grants each. These two grants are now replaced by the EHG. Families with at least one child below the age of 18 who live in public rental flats, and who had previously bought a subsidised flat, can also buy a two-room flexi flat through the Fresh Start housing scheme. Close to 100 families have been plac...

SeaPRwire
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194 families affected by construction delays requested for interim rental flats from HDB

aseanpr
4 minutes

SINGAPORE - More than 190 families whose flats are facing construction delays have requested for interim rental housing from the Housing Board, as some housing projects have been hampered by work delay as well as labour and supply shortages due to Covid-19. In response to queries from The Straits Times, the HDB said it had received 194 such requests from flat buyers affected by construction delays. Of these, 131 households are already living in their rental units and 39 households will be moving in or getting their units soon. The remaining 24 households withdrew their requests for the units. Among the 194 families who made the requests are 17 future home owners of a Build-To-Order (BTO) project in Punggol who are facing a one-year delay after the HDB terminated the services of the building contractor last August. The HDB said 14 of them are already living in their allocated rental units while the remaining three households will be getting their units soon. The affected housing project, called Waterway Sunrise II, has 1,014 units across seven blocks. The original estimated completion date was the first quarter of this year for Block 653A, and the second quarter of this year for the...

SeaPRwire
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Cabbie hit by plunge in income pushes for pay-as-you-use rental

aseanpr
3 minutes

SINGAPORE - Cabbie Peter Quek used to make 150 trips a week before the pandemic struck. That has fallen by a third to just more than 100 now. The 44-year-old's monthly take-home income is down by half, from $3,000 to $1,500. Thankfully, he qualified for the Self-Employed Person Income Relief Scheme launched in March, which disburses $1,000 per month for nine months. Explaining why his income has fallen by half even though the number of trips has not, the cabbie of 5 1/2 years, who drives 60 hours a week, said: "Pandemic or not, whatever I make in the first few hours of driving goes to covering operating costs. "It's only after about seven hours that I break even for the day, and then begin to earn my income, so the fall in income is disproportionate to the decrease in passengers." Mr Quek, who tracks his expenses and earnings using Excel spreadsheets, said his daily operating costs work out to about $180, after rental relief from the taxi operator and the Government. "This includes 'hidden costs' that others might not consider, like Medisave contributions and income tax deductions," said the single father of two daughters aged 14 and 16. His parents live with him. "Many drivers mig...

SeaPRwire
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Me & My Property: Look west for better rental yields

elean
1 minute

The western part of Singapore is an up-and-coming area and holds promise for property buyers looking for better rental yields, says ERA senior division director Neo Chee Seng. The 48-year-old is waiting for his new home in Clementi, which will be completed around 2023. The 1,292 sq ft Parc Clematis condominium unit will have four bedrooms. Please subscribe or log in to continue reading the full article. Get unlimited access to all stories at $0.99/month Latest headlines and exclusive stories In-depth analyses and award-winning multimedia content Get access to all with our no-contract promotional package at only $0.99/month for the first 3 months* Subscribe now *Terms and conditions apply.

SeaPRwire
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Malaysian workers’ return boosts home rental volumes in Singapore

elean
1 minute

The phased reopening of Singapore's border with Malaysia brought some welcome relief for landlords last month. Rents and leasings for both Housing Board (HDB) flats and condominium units rose after August's rental volumes hit their lowest point in 12 months, according to flash data yesterday. Please subscribe or log in to continue reading the full article. Get unlimited access to all stories at $0.99/month Latest headlines and exclusive stories In-depth analyses and award-winning multimedia content Get access to all with our no-contract promotional package at only $0.99/month for the first 3 months* Subscribe now *Terms and conditions apply.