Property developer CapitaLand has reported strong sales at its 165-unit Urban Suites condominium, after selling 90 per cent of the 140 units released.

Prices have also increased to between S$2,500 and S$2,800 per square foot compared to the phase one release of its first 60 units.

The units in phase one were sold at prices ranging from S$2,400 to S$2,700 per square foot.

About 70 per cent of the buyers in the latest phase were foreigners, with Indonesians making up the majority of this group.

CapitaLand Residential’s Singapore CEO Patricia Chia said she expects buying interest for well-located homes in the high-end segment of the market to continue.

She added that the prices for the mid- to high-end segments of the market have been rising by between 5 per cent and 10 per cent this year.

Urban Suites – comprising two 20-storey towers and one 17-storey tower – is located on an 8,665-square-metre freehold site, bounded by Cairnhill, Hullet and Saunders roads.

Buyers have a choice of two-, three-, and four-bedroom apartments as well as duplex and triplex penthouses.

Source: Channel News Asia, 19 Jan 2010

Rising buyer interest and low levels of supply pushed property asking prices in England and Wales up by an annual 4.1 per cent in January, property website Rightmove said yesterday.

On a non-seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, prices rose 0.4 per cent, reversing part of December’s 2.2 per cent decline.

Search activity on Rightmove’s website hit a record high in the first full week of the year with 157.4 million pages viewed, 26 per cent higher on the same period a year ago.

‘The rise in asking prices is an early indicator that new sellers in 2010 have the confidence to try for a higher price,’said Miles Shipside, Rightmove’s commercial director.

He said the factors that contributed to the market’s recovery in 2009 looked set to strengthen in the short term, despite an election less than five months away.

But Rightmove said higher interest rates and government spending cutbacks later in the year could sap the market’s upward momentum.

In London, which has led the country’s house price recovery, property asking prices rose 2.3 per cent on the month and 5.5 per cent on the year.

Rightmove forecast that property prices in the capital would rise by 5 per cent during 2010 but would show zero growth in England and Wales as a whole.

Source: Business Times, 19 Jan 2010

No of properties sold in Dec drops to 4,957 from 6,056 in Nov

New Zealand house prices fell for the first time in six months in December as the number of properties sold declined for a third month.

Prices fell 0.9 per cent from November, the Auckland-based Real Estate Institute of New Zealand Inc said yesterday in an e-mailed statement, citing an index. The number of properties sold dropped to 4,957 from 6,056 in November.

New Zealand lenders have been raising interest rates on fixed-term home loans as their funding costs increase, curbing demand for property. Falling house prices add to signs the economy’s recovery from recession may be only gradual in the first half of the year, making it unlikely the Reserve Bank will raise interest rates anytime soon.

‘The market has started to lose momentum,’ said Nick Tuffley, chief economist at ASB Bank Ltd in Auckland. The Reserve Bank ‘won’t be uncomfortable with the trends that they are seeing’.

New Zealand’s dollar fell to 73.39 US cents at 10:55am in Wellington from 73.64 cents immediately before the report was released.

The average interest rate on a three-year-fixed home loan was 7.93 per cent in November from 7.06 per cent in July, according to central bank figures.

Mortgage rates are rising even as Reserve Bank governor Alan Bollard keeps the official cash rate at a record-low 2.5 per cent. He said on Dec 10 he didn’t expect to raise borrowing costs until the middle of the year.

Mr Bollard expects the economy will grow 3 per cent this year after contracting 1.4 per cent in 2009.

House sales slumped in 2008 amid a deepening recession, and only began rising on an annual basis in March last year. Sales in December increased 15 per cent from a year earlier. Sales in November were 42 per cent stronger.

‘It’s an appreciating market fuelled by a shortage of properties for sale,’ Peter McDonald, president of the institute, said in the statement. The decline in sales is ‘concerning’, he added.

Sales traditionally fall in December and January because of the Christmas break and summer vacations.

Source: Business Times, 19 Jan 2010

A FREEHOLD ramp-up light industrial building will be coming up at 9 Tagore Lane and its developer is putting it up for sale.

The four-storey 9@Tagore will comprise 124 units ranging from 1,800 sq ft to 4,800 sq ft. Prices for the units start from $410 per sq ft, and the building is expected to receive temporary occupation permit at end-2011.

3M Building, which currently occupies the site, will make way for the new property developed by Chiu Teng @ Tagore Pte Ltd.

Colliers International is marketing 9@Tagore. According to its industrial director Tan Boon Leong, the building is the only freehold ramp-up industrial development in Singapore that is available for strata sale.

9@Tagore would attract companies looking for new space given that most of the existing industrial developments in the vicinity are five to 20 years old, he said.

‘Additionally, given its high potential yield of 5-6 per cent, the development is also likely to appeal to investors,’ he added.

‘On the back of an expected improvement in both the economy and the manufacturing sector, as well as more optimistic business sentiment, we expect to see a pick up in the demand for industrial space.’

9@Tagore will have an integrated ramp-up driveway providing direct access to all units. There will also be a loading bay for 40-foot prime movers.

Units there would be suitable for housing storage facilities, light assembly and production facilities or ancillary showrooms. Most of them are column-free and have a floor-to-ceiling height of six metres.

Source: Business Times, 19 Jan 2010

Move to Asia fuelled by new tax plans, more industry curbs in US, Europe

Bank of America Merrill Lynch is helping more than a dozen multibillion dollar international hedge funds set up or re-establish a presence in Hong Kong and Singapore as the US and Europe increase industry regulation.

A number of funds of hedge funds are also planning offices in the Asian cities, Dan McNicholas, head of Asia financing sales at Merrill Lynch said. Mr McNicholas spoke in a Bloomberg Television interview without mentioning any names.

Hedge-fund managers have been tempted by Hong Kong’s regulatory environment, the region’s economic growth and potential investment opportunities as US and Europe have proposed to increase taxes on the financial industry.

London Mayor Boris Johnson said that as many as 9,000 bankers may leave the UK capital’s financial district as a result of a 50 per cent tax on bonuses announced last month.

‘When you compare to New York or London, the business environment has been very friendly for managers,’ he said. In New York and London ‘you are seeing tax proposed and other restrictions on business that may make Hong Kong and Singapore attractive.’

Asia is also expected to absorb a larger proportion of global hedge fund inflows than it historically received as funds need to correct their under-allocations to the region, he said. More than 15 per cent of the US$50 billion to US$100 billion of hedge fund inflows expected in the first quarter may go to Asia, Mr McNicholas said.

Soros Fund Management and GLG Partners are among those planning a Hong Kong office, people familiar with their plans told Bloomberg last week.

‘Unlike 2006, when we often just saw junior research staff and execution traders coming to Asia, we’re seeing more senior staff choose to make the move,’ said Mr McNicholas.

The UK last month imposed a 50 per cent tax on banks for bonuses of more than £25,000 (S$56,600). It is also raising taxes on residents earning more than £150,000 a year to 50 per cent from 40 per cent.

In 2008, it introduced a fee of £30,000 for non- domiciled residents who had previously escaped its tax system.

The European Union is preparing rules for hedge funds that would restrict the amount they can borrow and force them to use banks domiciled in Europe.

In the US, President Barack Obama proposed raising taxes on fund executives in his first Budget last year. An increase would affect general partners at buyout firms, hedge funds, venture capital firms and other partnerships including real estate, oil and gas investments.

Asian equities outperformed the US in 2009, with the MSCI Asia Pacific Ex-Japan Index advancing 68 per cent last year compared with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index’s 23 per cent gain.

Asia is leading the world’s emergence from its deepest recession since the 1930s after governments boosted spending, cut taxes and slashed interest rates.

China, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and 10 South-east Asian economies may expand 6.8 per cent in 2010 from 4.2 per cent last year, according to a report last month by the Asian Development Bank’s Office for Regional Economic Integration in Manila.

Emerging markets will become a leading source of investment and credit as Western economies take longer to recover from the financial crisis, Tony Tan, deputy chairman of Government of Singapore Investment Corp, said yesterday at the Commonwealth Economic Forum in Taipei. GIC manages more than US$100 billion of the city-state’s foreign reserves.

Source: Business Times, 19 Jan 2010

SOUTH-EAST Asia’s largest developer, CapitaLand, is set to stage a giant US$2.2 billion (S$3 billion) acquisition of Hong Kong property investment holding company Orient Overseas Developments Limited (OODL).

CapitaLand China Holdings (CCH) – a wholly owned subsidiary of CapitaLand Limited – announced yesterday that it had signed an agreement to buy OODL from Hong Kong-listed container line Orient Overseas International Limited (OOIL), controlled by the family of former Hong Kong chief executive Tung Chee Hwa.

The deal – set to be completed by the end of the first quarter – will boost CapitaLand’s real estate business with a portfolio of seven sites in Shanghai, Kunshan and Tianjin boasting a total gross floor area of 1.48 million sq m.

Some 87 per cent of that is in Greater Shanghai, while the remaining is in the Tianjin city centre.

Residential area constitutes the largest component – 56 per cent – while offices, serviced apartments and hotels, and retail make up 19 per cent, 17 per cent and 8 per cent respectively, according to CapitaLand.

The purchase will, at a stroke, double the firm’s China property portfolio from 1.4 million sq m to 2.8 million sq m, and increase CapitaLand’s assets in China to approximately 36 per cent.

CapitaLand group chairman Richard Hu said the proposed acquisition was timely and provided an excellent strategic fit.

‘It also fits into our stated goal of growing our asset size in China from the present 28 per cent of total assets to 45 per cent over the next five years, as we remain very confident of the long-term future of the country,’ he said.

The developer will fund the acquisition from internal cash resources, much of which have been generated by the initial public offering of CapitaMalls Asia, which raised $2.8 billion in November. CapitaLand will assume responsibility for a US$1.05 billion shareholder loan owed by OODL to its parent.

CapitaLand president and chief executive Liew Mun Leong said the acquisition, which is still subject to OOIL shareholder approval, represented an ‘opportunistic’ investment.

As most of the sites already have planning and land-use approval, and some have construction permits in place, red tape is reduced and developments can be released quicker to the market.

‘In Shanghai, demand far exceeds supply, and the competition for land at good price levels is tough. With one go, we have solved a few years of land acquisition problems,’ Mr Liew said.

He is bullish about demand, citing Shanghai’s position as a financial centre and its status as a main shipping hub as key engines of growth, while CapitaLand China executive committee deputy chairman Lim Ming Yan said urbanisation would help keep demand high.

DMG & Partners Securities analyst Brandon Lee said the acquisition was likely to be a positive move for CapitaLand in the medium to long term.

‘Some of CapitaLand’s developments have been in lower tier cities so far. This will really allow it to expand its footprint – especially in Shanghai and Tianjin – which are good growing cities in property development,’ he said.

Hong Kong’s OOIL said yesterday it expected to book a profit of US$1.06 billion from its China property sale to Singapore’s CapitaLand.

The transaction represented an opportunity for the group to redirect capital to its core business of container transport and logistics services, it said in a statement released yesterday.

A slump in global trade and excessive capacity in the shipping industry led to a loss of US$231.8 million in the half-year to June 30 – its first in a decade.

Source: Straits Times, 19 Jan 2010

Last 11 owners to sell their units at the hotel sold them at a loss

WHEN an Israeli billionaire bought New York’s storied Plaza Hotel for US$675 million, he envisioned turning the plucky grande dame with the globally recognised name into mainly a luxury condo tower that would cater to the world’s wealthiest buyers and offer stores to satisfy their every desire.

But six years later, with the city in an acute recession, the grandest aims of the new owner, Isaac Tshuva, and the excitement of the new Plaza’s first residents seem to have dimmed, according to sales data.

The last 11 owners to sell their luxury condos at the Plaza Hotel sold them at a loss, including the owner of Apartment 409, which sold for US$8.5 million less than it cost 16 months before.

And this spring, steps below where F Scott Fitzgerald found his muse for The Great Gatsby, the hotel is opening an upscale food court offering burgers and pizza. The Palm Court, the Plaza’s famous restaurant, has been closed.

The Plaza’s underground luxury stores are struggling to attract shoppers, and one expert broker is consequently advising clients not to take space there.

‘It’s gone from being a landmark to being just a building,’ Clark Wolf, an independent restaurant consultant, said of the situation. ‘In an era without a Tavern on the Green or a Cafe des Artistes, we need something. New York City is screaming for a landmark.’

But the 102-year-old Plaza still has some cachet. To many New Yorkers and tourists, the Plaza is still the place where Eloise, the fictional six-year-old, treats the hotel as her playground, and Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman share late-afternoon drinks at the Oak Bar. And the Plaza’s overall financial picture means little to prospective brides: The Grand Ballroom is still booked every Saturday night in May.

In the heady first couple of years after Mr Tshuva acquired the Plaza in 2004, he reaped the rewards of a real estate boom. After a US$450 million makeover, Mr Tshuva’s real estate firm sold all 181 units, sight unseen, for a total of more than US$1.3 billion.

The prices for these apartments were so high that real estate brokerage firms started separating the Plaza’s sales figures from their overall data reporting because they distorted the market.

But Mr Tshuva would also fight with the hotel union, battle with the owners of the rights to Eloise’s image and even endure cries of protest about the possible loss of the Plaza. The actress Sarah Jessica Parker held her 40th birthday party there in a show of support for the hotel.

According to data tracked by Streeteasy.com, Earl McEvoy, a mutual fund manager who paid US$4.79 million for an apartment in October 2007, sold it last summer for US$4 million. Guy Wildenstein, president of the Wildenstein & Co gallery on the Upper East Side and owner of a large private art collection, sold Apartment 409, and another unit he bought in August 2008 for US$9.6 million went for US$6 million 15 months later.

Then there was Oscar S Schafer, a managing partner at the hedge fund OSS Capital Management, who took a hit on No. 1709. He bought the three-bedroom unit for US$14.6 million in May 2008 and sold it for US$8.5 million in July 2009. And nine of the 28 apartments in the building on the market have slashed their asking prices.

Some context: Lawyers and brokers say that 15 Central Park West, a new property whose condos were sold at roughly at the same time as the Plaza’s, had its last 10 transactions sell for well over their asking price. Edward Mermelstein, a real estate lawyer who represented more than two dozen buyers of apartments at the Plaza and 15 Central Park West, said that since both properties opened, his clients preferred 15 Central Park West apartments for its bigger windows and bigger-name residents.

It is possible, then, that his buyers want to live near the chief executive of Goldman Sachs at 15 Central Park West, not the former chief executive of Bear Stearns at the Plaza.

‘You have the perception at this point that 15 Central Park West is very much a private club,’ Mr Mermelstein said. ‘The Plaza has very much of a feeling of a hotel.’

But even the most serious sceptics of the relative value of the Plaza condos say that once the residential real estate slowdown passes, the building will be desirable to some buyers.

‘With its uniqueness in the world, and its name in the world, it’s going to be a sought-after address,’ said Noel Berk, a real estate broker who lives in and has sold apartments at 15 Central Park West.

One of the central struggles at the Plaza involves the shopping centre which Mr Tshuva’s firm, Elad Properties, created in the hotel’s basement. It includes several luxury retailers like the Viennese patisserie Demel, Maurice Fine Jewelry and Krigler perfumes. But a shirt maker, Eton of Sweden, has closed.

Alan Victor, president of the retail brokerage firm Lansco, said that while two of his brokers made deals there, he was advising clients not to set up shop there because of the location off Fifth Avenue and the recession. ‘It’s just too risky to put our tenants there,’ he said.

Plaza executives responsible for the hotel and events divisions say that while the market has been tough, it is slowly getting better.

Business for events booked in the Grand Ballroom dropped 20 per cent in 2009, from 2008, said Liz Neumark, principal of CPS Events, which has a 25-year lease to manage the hotel’s event spaces. She credits the drop to a decline in corporate meetings and the tighter budgets of non-profit organisations.

Shane Krige, general manager of the 282-room hotel that still operates at the Plaza, said that occupancy for hotel rooms followed similar trends.

But Plaza executives also see some hopeful signs. Ms Neumark predicts a 30 per cent jump in wedding bookings this year. The hotel’s occupancy rate rose to 90 per cent in December, according to Krige. The hotel also just received its first five-diamond rating from AAA.

It remains to be seen whether the mix of restaurants in the building will meet the standards of truly highbrow guests. The Edwardian Room remains closed except for private events. The Palm Court, which reopened briefly, closed again in December 2008. Mr Krige said that Fairmont, which manages the hotel, plans to reopen the Palm Court this spring, and he is posting job openings there. The Oak Bar, the Oak Room, the Champagne Bar and the Rose Club remain open.

The celebrity chef Todd English is sorting out construction details for a 5,400 sq ft food hall next to the basement stores.

Mr English’s spokeswoman on this project, Willie Norkin, dismissed any questions that the market’s food offerings – they will range from sushi to dumplings to pizza – may not be up to the Plaza’s reputation.

‘I don’t think the goal here is to have offerings that are going to be exclusive,’ she said. ‘It’s going to have offerings that are inclusive and appealing.’

Joey Alaham, a part owner of the Oak Room and owner of three other restaurants, said that even in the face of the recession, there is a history about the Plaza that still draws customers.

He described a 97-year-old man who recently visited the Oak Room. He ordered a Macallan Scotch and gazed at the newly restored murals around him.

‘His wife passed away,’ Mr Alaham said. ‘He came in to remember their first date.’

Source: Business Times, 19 Jan 2010

ASCENDAS Real Estate Investment Trust (A-Reit) yesterday posted a net property income of $81.3 million for the third quarter ended Dec 31, 2009 – up 9.7 per cent from a year ago.

Higher gross revenue – boosted by rental income from newly completed development projects – and lower property expenses helped lift the industrial Reit’s earnings. As a result, distributable income rose 13.4 per cent to $61.2 million over the same period.

Despite this, distribution per unit (DPU) fell 19.3 per cent to 3.27 cents in Q3, from 4.05 cents a year ago. This reflected the larger unit base, partly due to A-Reit’s share placement and preferential offering exercises.

On a proforma basis, adjusting for the increased number of units, DPU for Q3 last year would have been 2.88 cents. Compared with the DPU in Q3 this year, there would have been a 13.5 per cent increase.

For the rest of this financial year, the manager ‘expects to be able to deliver a return that is in line with market expectations’.

As at Dec 31, A-Reit’s portfolio comprised 91 properties with a total asset value of about $4.8 billion. The occupancy rate for the portfolio was 96.5 per cent, down from 97.2 per cent at Dec 31, 2008.

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A-Reit still managed to secure positive rental reversion for renewed leases at its business and science parks, hi-tech industrial properties and logistics and distribution centres in the financial year to date.

‘However, the manager observed signs of moderation in the rate of positive rental reversion in line with current market rental trends,’ the Reit said.

A-Reit was also working on reducing its exposure to ‘vulnerable’ tenants. Its manager earlier identified 12,098 square metres of space as ‘vulnerable’. It has repossessed and re-let 2,416 sq m of space with no negative financial impact, and taken legal action against a tenant occupying 8,843 sq m.

As at Dec 31, A-Reit’s aggregate leverage stood at 31.2 per cent, sharply lower than the 42.2 per cent a year ago. It is in the process of refinancing a $300 million term loan facility maturing in March.

A-Reit units closed two cents lower at $2.02 yesterday.

Source: Business Times, 19 Jan 2010

China’s Dec property price surge steepest in 18 months

Real estate prices in China, Singapore and Hong Kong need monitoring for signs of bubbles forming as Asia continues to grow rapidly this year, said Fred Hu, Goldman Sach Group’s chairman of Greater China.

China, Singapore and Hong Kong need to be watched for asset bubbles, especially real estate prices, Mr Hu told a conference in Taipei yesterday. He also warned of inflationary pressures in China and said that China and India would lead the way in economic growth.

Home prices in Hong Kong are at their highest in 12 years, while residential and commercial real-estate prices in 70 cities in China climbed 7.8 per cent in December, the fastest pace in 18 months. In Singapore, a record number of private homes were sold last year.

China’s economy is overheating as asset bubbles and inflation pressures build, posing a ‘major risk’ to global growth, the World Economic Forum said on Jan 14.

Hong Kong residential property prices will rise about 5 per cent this year, Credit Suisse Group AG analysts led by Hong Kong- based Cusson Leung said last week. Prices of existing homes in Hong Kong, which rose 29 per cent last year, advanced further to reach their highest in almost 12 years as at Jan 10, according to Centaline Property Agency Ltd, one of the city’s biggest.

Record-low mortgage costs, near-zero interest rates on savings deposits and buying from rich mainland Chinese stoked demand even as Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang said on Jan 14 there is no ‘obvious bubble’ in the city’s property market.

In November, Mr Tsang had warned that asset prices in cities including Hong Kong and Singapore were ‘going up to levels that are incompatible or inconsistent with the economic fundamentals.’

To help ease a shortage of homes, Hong Kong will hold its third land auction in the current financial year next month, it said last Friday.

In China, property prices rose at the fastest pace in 18 months in December, with residential and commercial real-estate values in 70 cities climbing 7.8 per cent from a year earlier, the National Development and Reform Commission said last week.

To cool speculation, the government this month reimposed a sales tax on homes sold within five years of their purchase, after cutting the taxable period to two years in January 2009 to bolster a market that was then flagging.

The central bank also raised lenders’ reserve requirements from yesterday, seeking to rein in liquidity from record lending without stalling a recovery.

A total 14,991 units were sold in 2009 in Singapore, according to Bloomberg calculations, beating the historical high of about 14,800 units set in 2007.

Source: Business Times, 19 Jan 2010

Its acquisition of HK-listed outfit’s property business will double its China portfolio

CapitaLand has agreed to buy the entire property business of Hong Kong-listed Orient Overseas (International) Ltd for US$2.2 billion, it said yesterday.

CapitaLand chief executive Liew Mun Leong said that this could very well be the largest real estate transaction in Singapore’s history.

Under the deal, CapitaLand will acquire a real estate business with a portfolio of seven sites located in Shanghai, Kunshan and Tianjin.

The sites, which comprise a mix of residential and serviced residences sites as well as plots with integrated development potential, are in various stages of planning and development.

CapitaLand, which is South-east Asia’s largest developer, will pay for the purchase from its existing cash, a significant portion of which arose when it spun off and listed its retail arm CapitaMalls Asia last year. CapitaLand raised net proceeds of S$2.7 billion from the public offer.

The transaction price takes into account the portfolio value of the seven sites of about US$2 billion as well as the cash within the business of around US$262 million.

CapitaLand won the right to buy the property after a closed tender by Orient Overseas (International) Ltd, which is divesting its property interests to focus on its core shipping business. CapitaLand was invited to bid for the assets in November 2009 and submitted the bid on Jan 8.

The company said it did not know how many bidders there were, or if its bid was the highest. But Hong Kong media reports said there were about about five bidders.

‘This proposed acquisition is timely and an excellent strategic fit for CapitaLand,’ said CapitaLand chairman Richard Hu in a statement. ‘It also fits into our stated goal of growing our asset size in China from the present 28 per cent of total assets to 45 per cent over the next five years as we remain very confident of the long term future of the country.’

The acquisition will double CapitaLand’s China property portfolio from 1.4 million square metres to 2.8 million sq m and increase the asset size in the country to around 36 per cent of the group’s total assets. The deal is expected to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2010.

Added Mr Liew: ‘The major assets are in the city centre where there is currently very limited supply of such land in the market. Most of the sites have planning and land use approval while some sites have construction permits in place. This is a large development advantage in China and should command a price premium.’

Analysts said that the news appears to be positive for the property group, although they pointed out that shareholders who were hoping for a bumper payout might be disappointed.

Following the IPO of CapitaMalls Asia last year, CapitaLand said that part of the proceeds will be paid out as a special dividend to the group’s shareholders – but only after the business plans and capital requirements of the group’s other business units had been taken into consideration.

‘We did say that the special dividend will be subject to investment decisions,’ said chief financial officer Olivier Lim yesterday.

‘The acquisition is positive for CapitaLand,’ said UOB Kay Hian analyst Vikrant Pandey. ‘They (shareholders) may not get as large a special dividend but the re-investment will get them decent returns over a longer term.’

The purchase should contribute to CapitaLand’s earnings for its 2010 financial year, Mr Pandey said. This is because a serviced residence/hotel project on one of the sites is already operational.

In a note to clients, CIMB-GK Research said that news of the acquisition reflects CapitaLand’s pro-active stance in redeploying its capital into net asset value productive assets. ‘This aspect of CapitaLand’s strategy was lacking in 2009,’ said the report.

Assuming the acquisition was completed on Sept 30, 2009, the pro forma net debt-to-equity ratio would be 0.3 times and the pro forma cash balance would be $5.5 billion, CapitaLand said.

CapitaLand’s shares, which were suspended from trading yesterday, will resume trading today. The stock closed 2 cents up at $4.28 last Friday.

Source: Business Times, 19 Jan 2010