With savings earning paltry returns and inflation rising, property is seen as best bet

FAN Wenbao swears he is not in the business of speculating on property. Already the owner of one home in Xinyang, a grimy city in the poor central province of Henan, he bought two more there last year.

‘It’s an investment not to make money but to save money. Interest rates in the bank are too low,’ said Mr Fan, a real estate agent in a shiny silver suit.

‘If I buy now, the property will steadily increase in value. And at least there’s no way it can fall.’

This might sound like the talk of a speculator in most places, but Mr Fan’s is a relatively long-term view when it comes to the Chinese housing market.

He is not engaged in the kind of rapid buying and selling known as chaofang, or stir-frying of homes, that has driven prices up by 50 per cent in just a few weeks on the tropical island of Hainan, home to the country’s hottest real estate.

In Mr Fan’s hometown of Xinyang, many of whose one million people migrate to prosperous coastal areas for work, property prices rose a mere 10 per cent last year.

But that is already enough to worry the central bank nearly 1,000 km north in Beijing.

Property beckons homeowners and speculators as the one asset in China that is performing well, and authorities are stepping up efforts to prevent a potentially destabilising housing bubble from forming in the world’s third-largest economy.

Even the comparatively modest price appreciation seen in Xinyang clearly outstrips the country’s benchmark deposit rate of 2.25 per cent.

With inflation picking up and expected to flirt with 5 per cent this year, people like Mr Fan are waking up to the fact that their savings are at risk sitting in bank accounts.

Investment alternatives are few and far between in China. The stock market has been sluggish for nearly half a year and foreign investments are all but closed to ordinary people.

Property, of course, has additional appeal. ‘The old parts of the city are in bad shape. These developments are modern, spacious and full of greenery,’ said local travel agent Ma Zhong, 25, strolling through Xinyang’s new district of government buildings, shopping centres and apartment complexes, vast swathes of which are still under construction.

The big question hanging over the Chinese property sector is the extent to which demand has come from owner-occupiers as opposed to investors hoping to quickly flip homes for a profit.

Rampant price rises in recent months persuaded Beijing to begin clamping down on speculators, fearing the fallout if any bubble were left to grow to monstrous proportions.

When real interest rates fell in 2007 as inflation rose, households shifted vast amounts of savings into the stock market, fuelling a steep rally. Its sudden collapse contributed to a loss of confidence that slowed the economy over the next year.

The obvious answer now would be to raise interest rates. But doing so could draw hot money from abroad into an economy already awash in cash and make it difficult for local governments to service the piles of debt that they racked up last year.

‘Beijing’s strategy instead is to set up an ugliness contest: bank deposits are becoming unattractive, so administrative measures are used to make asset markets more unattractive still,’ said economist Paul Cavey with Macquarie Securities in Hong Kong.

He concluded in a recent client note that the government was winning the battle, for now.

A succession of pledges to crack down on reckless investment and steps to make second mortgages and transactions more costly have dampened sentiment. Programmes to build more affordable housing are also weighing on prices, even as they shape up as an engine of real estate investment in the coming years.

Sales of new apartments and existing homes in Beijing fell some 70 per cent in the first three weeks of January from a month earlier, local media reported recently. The central bank’s moves in recent weeks to curb excessive loan growth have also hastened the slide in Chinese share prices and roiled markets worldwide.

But policymakers would be premature in assuming that they have seen off a housing bubble.

Last Sunday in Xinyang was damp and chilly. The streets and shops were quiet.

Yet a steady flow of people visited the showroom of Bolin Harmonious Home, a 26-building complex that started selling its first block of apartments last year. The homes are surrounded by muddy fields, a 10-minute drive from the nearest office or mall.

‘On the first day, almost all of the 400 units sold out. We’ve got the next phase coming on sale soon and we expect strong demand over Spring Festival,’ said Zhang Jing, 28, a saleswoman, referring to the Chinese New Year holiday next week.

‘Things are developing a little bit quickly but these are great homes. They are convenient and have great potential,’ she said.

Source: Business Times, 11 Feb 2010

PROPERTY firm CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) has been appointed by The Royal Group of Cambodia as its exclusive adviser and sole agent to secure investors for developing the island of Koh Rong.

The diversified Royal Group is headed by Neak Oknha Kith Meng, one of Cambodia’s most prominent tycoons.

CBRE said in a press statement yesterday that the group has been granted a 99-year lease by the Cambodian government to develop Koh Rong, the largest private island in the region.

The Koh Rong archipelago, about half- an-hour by boat from Cambodia’s main coastal town of Sihanoukville, is being marketed as the ‘next Asian Riviera’ along the lines of Phuket, Ko Samui and Bali.

Koh Rong island covers 78 square kilometres, about a third of the size of Thailand’s Ko Samui. The local population totals 1,382 people from 317 families, most of whom live in small fishing villages. The island has 28 white-sand beaches stretching up to 6 km and crystal-clear water comparable to the Maldives. CBRE said development opportunities are now opening up with a new international airport at nearby Sihanoukville currently welcoming chartered flights and private jets.

An environmental impact study is already underway for the development of Koh Rong as ‘Asia’s first environmentally planned island’. A team of international consultants, including Scott Wilson Engineers, will oversee the environmental aspects, while MAP Architects Hong Kong has been engaged to draw up a master plan, which will be rolled out over the next three months.

‘The main focus is on developers with plans for exclusive, environmentally-sensitive tourism projects,’ said David Simister, chairman of CBRE Thailand and Cambodia.

Two or three golf courses can be accommodated on the island, and new projects include plans for organic farming and waste management, as well as improved education, jobs and medical care for the local population.

Source: Business Times, 13 Feb 2010

In a day and age where home owners move house whenever possible for a variety of reasons – to be near schools and grandparents, to make their money work for them – retiree Yang Zheng Cai is a rarity.

He may just outlive the house he has lived in for 50 years. At 73, he is hale and hearty, looking in better shape than the two-storey terrace house in Upper Boon Keng Road, where the lease will expire in about 10 years’ time.

His home is one of about 250 terrace houses in what is believed to be one of Singapore’s cheapest private housing estate because the land, which had an original lease of 60 years, will return to the Government in 2020.

The area, on which the decades clearly have taken its toll, has been zoned for residential use under the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s Master Plan 2008.

Mr Eric Cheng, chief executive of ECG Property, says these homes with built-up areas of about 1,300 sq ft, cost only about $170,000 to $180,000 each.

That amount cannot buy even a resale four-room HDB flat in many places.

Should the area be turned into condominium homes, he says homes there can fetch from $900 to $1,050 per square foot because it is close to town and the Boon Keng MRT station. For units on higher floors, residents can enjoy unblocked views of the city. This estimate is based on the price of nearby condominiums such as The Waterina.

Other residential areas with less than 40 years left on their leasehold include a stretch of homes near Rail Mall in Upper Bukit Timah, Jalan Chempaka Kuning in Bedok and in the Rifle Range Road area.

A spokesman for the Singapore Land Authority says: ‘The Government’s policy is to allow leases to expire without extension. In land-scarce Singapore, we need to recover land upon lease expiry to re-allocate it to meet fast-changing socio-economic needs.’

Is there any value at all in property in these places? Yes, says Mr Cheng.

‘Those with cash for investment can consider getting a unit in Upper Boon Keng as the rental yield is high,’ he says. Given the short lease, banks are not likely to grant loans.

Owners can rent out the units for about $3,000 a month, so they could make up to $360,000 in the remaining time before the lease expires.

At its peak in 2007, a unit sold for $200,000.

Mr Yang did not consider selling his house, even when it could have fetched such prices – not least because of his emotional attachment to it.

The home owner, the fourth of six children, inherited the intermediate terrace property from his late father. He has two sisters living along the same street.

Now he lives with his wife, a housewife who wants to be known only as Madam Chen, and their three grandchildren aged 13 to 21. Madam Chen, 72, moved in 50 years ago when the couple got married. They have three children.

The area used to be a kampung and MrYang’s family then lived in an attap house which his father rented.

After a fire destroyed the kampung, the Government in 1960 built homes for the kampung residents and Mr Yang’s family bought one for about $5,000 – a high price then but his businessman father could afford it when he made a tidy sum.

Mr Yang, who used to own a timber company, recalls playing with his friends after school and catching crabs nearby.

In the early days, most of the residents in the area were Chinese and they often looked out for one another. Front gates and doors were often left unlocked as the area was so safe.

Today, most houses have been converted into temples or rented out to contractors to use as dormitories for foreign workers. High-rise HDB flats and flatted factories have also popped up.

Only about 10 per cent of the homes are occupied by home owners, who are mostly retirees.

To anyone walking through the estate, it is clear that most of the homes have seen better days, although owners have renovated them through the years, turning their backyards into bigger kitchens and front yards into porches.

Mr Yang says it has been 20 years since he last renovated his home, and he cannot remember how much he spent and exactly what he did.

The predominance of foreign workers in the area does not bother him. ‘I have no problems with them living next door as they leave for work early and come back late. We do not get any disturbances and the area is peaceful and very safe.’

Mr Cheong Hiong Yau, 92, a former coffee-shop owner, is another long-time resident in the estate.

He has been living here for the past 75 years, currently with his wife, Mrs Cheong Siao Ngor, 83, and their maid in their double-storey terrace house.

He says he likes living here because of its convenient location. The Upper Boon Keng wet market is a five-minute walk away and there is a supermarket nearby too. He often takes his dog for walks around the quiet neighbourhood.

In previous years, he says there would be lion dances in the neighbourhood during Chinese New Year. ‘There still are now, but not as many troupes come by.’

Although he does not like heights, he will ‘move in to live with one of my sons in his apartment in Jalan Besar’ when the lease on his current home ends.

Mr Yang’s plans are similar, insofar as he has made any at all. He takes comfort in knowing that his son is living in an HDB flat a three-minute walk away. ‘Perhaps I will move in with him so it feels as if I have not left this place,’ he says.

Source: Straits Times, 13 Feb 2010

I REFER to Thursday’s commentary, ‘HDB resale prices: Don’t just find a scapegoat’. The 132,000 potential HDB resale flat buyers may not include two sections – singles aged above 35 years and those downgrading to HDB flats after selling private property.

The HDB resale flat turnover of 37,205 units out of a total stock of about 880,000, by itself does not explain fully the marked rise in prices every year.

When prices of private properties soar sky high through their purchase by foreign or Singapore buyers, HDB flat sellers will shun private properties and instead buy another HDB flat as replacement, adding to the demand.

Moreover, HDB flat valuations are affected by resale transactions which are affected by private property sale, resale and collective property sale transactions – which are affected by international flow of funds and borrowing costs.

In other words, the ‘magic wand’ of HDB to control Singapore property prices can work temporarily but will be countered or reinforced in the long term by international forces of inflation and asset allocations.

Loo Fook Kay

Source: Straits Times, 13 Feb 2010

PROPERTY agents say they are seeing more private property dwellers buying Housing and Development Board (HDB) resale flats.

This group remains in the minority of HDB flat buyers in the open market, but their number has been rising, according to three property agencies.

Data obtained by The Straits Times show that the proportion of resale HDB flat buyers with private home addresses ranged between 8 per cent and 19 per cent of transactions last year.

Such data is not widely available, but from the figures that ST managed to obtain, this proportion seems to be on the rise.

Of the three big agencies who command the majority share of HDB resale market transactions – ERA Asia Pacific, PropNex and HSR Property Group – the first two said they did not record transactions by address type.

HSR, which has about 8,000 agents, said that the proportion of flat buyers with private home addresses rose from 5 per cent in 2008 to 8 per cent last year.

C&H Realty, a smaller outfit with more than 1,000 agents, reported that these buyers comprised 6 per cent of transactions from July to September last year. But this has grown to 12 per cent for the period from October to last month.

The firm keeps sales records only from the last six months at any given time.

At ECG Property Group, which started operations in November last year under former HSR executive director Eric Cheng, the proportion of buyers with private home addresses has risen from 19 per cent in December to 27 per cent last month. The agency has about 900 agents.

Agency bosses said that there are different reasons why this group of buyers wants a slice of the HDB market.

Some buy to downgrade or cash out of their private property, while others may be moving into an HDB flat after their private homes were sold en bloc.

Then, there are those who buy HDB flats for investment.

Latest HDB statistics for the three months ended Dec 31 showed resale flat prices scaling a new peak, rising 8.2 per cent for the whole of last year.

HSR executive director Jeffrey Hong pointed out that HDB flats give investors a much better yield than private properties as they are cheaper and rents are strong in good locations.

‘The cost of an HDB flat and the bank interest payable is lower than for private homes. And there’s also the possibility of capital appreciation because such owners can sell within a year,’ he said.

HDB rules stipulate that anyone who buys an HDB flat from the resale market can re-sell it after they have lived in the flat for a year, provided they did not receive any Government grants or HDB loans.

The minimum holding period for a resale flat used to be 2.5 years, but the Board relaxed the rule in 2003 in a bid to inject flexibility into the market after industry players called for regulations to be relaxed to unlock monetary values for home owners.

This decision has come under scrutiny lately as HDB resale flat prices rose 40 per cent in the last three years.

Disgruntled buyers priced out of the market have blamed high flat prices on the entry of permanent residents and private property speculators.

They claim these speculators snap up flats on the resale market and then rent them out illegally or sell them legally after the stipulated one-year period.

National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan addressed this last month by announcing a review of HDB rules to ensure that property speculators are not abusing current rules and driving up flat prices.

It will check if any rules are ‘encouraging or allowing’ people to speculate on HDB flats, and its findings will be released later, said Mr Mah.

Property analysts said yesterday that HDB could clear the air on this issue by revealing to the public exactly what percentage of HDB resale flat buyers are private property owners.

But they also cautioned that buyers who have private property addresses are not necessarily the owners, but could be tenants or relatives of the property owner.

Property agent Winston Yap, 50, who has brokered resale flat deals for private property owners said his experience is that about two out of 10 resale flat buyers buy for investment purposes.

This group of buyers is attracted to high-end HDB flats in centrally located mature estates, such as Queenstown and Holland Village, which command high rents.

‘Their mindset is that they can secure very high rental income, and these buyers do not mind forking out high amounts of cash upfront to secure premium flats,’ he said. This cash paid upfront to a seller above the flat’s valuation is also known as Cash-over-Valuation, or COV.

In Holland Village, for example, he recently sold a three-room flat $50,000 above its valuation to a private property owner. ‘The usual upgraders and downgraders can’t afford this, because the cash portion is too huge, but these type of buyers still remain the minority,’ he said.

Source: Straits Times, 13 Feb 2010

PROPERTY group Ho Bee Investment achieved record net profit of $337 million for the year ended Dec 31, 2009 – a big jump from $93.1 million in the previous year. Its topline also vaulted to a fresh high of $1.16 billion last year – almost quadruple the $302.1 million revenue in the preceding year.

The strong showing was powered by higher recognition of revenue from property development, including five projects that received Temporary Occupation Permit (TOP) last year. That’s when developers book a chunk of revenue and earnings from units sold in residential property developments.

For the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2009, Ho Bee posted net profit of $43.1 million, again a significant increase from the $11.3 million reported in the same year-ago period.

Next month, Ho Bee and IOI Land plan to launch Seascape, an eight-and-a-half-storey seafronting condominium at Sentosa cove. It will have a total 151 units, mostly three and four-bedders.

The three-bedroom units are between 2,200 sq ft and 2,400 sq ft while four-bedders are 2,700-4,000 sq ft.

Ho Bee expects to remain profitable this year. ‘Revenues and earnings for FY2010 will be underpinned by progressive recognition of income from the residential projects previously sold and expected sales this year,’ Ho Bee chairman and CEO Chua Thian Poh said.

He said the overall outlook for the Singapore property market remains positive and he expects demand for mid to high-end residential projects to remain resilient. The group is actively looking at property development opportunities overseas, especially in China, he added.

Ho Bee’s full-year profit included a writedown of $29.5 million in fair-value changes of investment properties (mostly the group’s stake in Samsung Hub) as well as writedowns for development properties totalling $57.6 million (largely for the Pinnacle Collection plot on Sentosa Cove).

Maiden recognition of revenue for Trilight, a condo at Newton Road which Ho Bee launched in Q4 last year, helped boost Q4 2009 revenue to $99.2 million from $38.5 million in Q4 2008. In addition to the higher turnover, a $21.7 million writeback on development properties previously written down in second quarter last year and a $1.9 million share of profit from joint venture entities against a $4.5 million share of loss in Q4 2008 also helped to provide a fillip to Ho Bee’s fourth quarter bottomline.

Shareholders will receive a 2-cent per share final dividend, in addition to the interim dividend of the same quantum the group paid out earlier last year. These amounts are double the 2008 payout.

The five projects Ho Bee received TOP last year and which helped contribute to the $1.13 billion full-year turnover for property development were Vertis in the Amber Road area, Quinterra at Holland Road, Orange Grove Residences, The Coast and Paradise Island. The last two are on Sentosa Cove.

These projects’ completion translated to strong cash collection; the group enjoyed a whopping $963.2 million net cash inflow from operating activities last year, and this enabled Ho Bee to repay bank loans and still manage to treble its coffers. It trimmed group borrowings from $1.15 billion at end-2008 to $409.5 million at end-2009 and lowered net gearing from 1.26 times to 0.20. Over the same period, cash and cash equivalents rose from $45.1 million to $171.7 million.

Net asset value per share increased from $1.20 at end-2008 to $1.63 at end-2009. On the stockmarket yesterday, Ho Bee closed one cent lower at $1.74.

Source: Business Times,13 Feb 2010

UNITED Industrial Corp (UIC) and its unit Singapore Land (SingLand) both posted net losses for the full year ended Dec 31, hit by fair-value losses on investment properties.

UIC incurred a net loss of $142.8 million for the year – almost double the $74.6 million it lost a year ago.

This was despite revenue rising 13 per cent year-on-year to $1.01 billion, from higher rental income and more progressive recognition of sales of trading properties. Net profit from operations grew 28 per cent to $240.8 million.

A $658.5 million fair-value loss on investment properties ate into UIC’s bottom line for the year. This far exceeds the $397 million seen in the previous year.

Most properties involved in a valuation exercise dated Dec 31 experienced a drop in value. Tampines Plaza was one of the worst hit in percentage terms – its value fell to $73 million, down 7 per cent from the last valuation at June 30.

The value of UIC Group’s interest in SGX Centre 1 & 2 also slid by 6 per cent to $410 million. UIC Building, Singapore Land Tower, Clifford Centre, The Gateway and Abacus Plaza also saw their values dip. Marina Bayfront, Marina Square Retail Mall and West Mall stood out as their values rose in the exercise. Marina Bayfront’s increased by 6.7 per cent to $64 million.

UIC is proposing a first and final dividend of three cents per ordinary share, payable on May 24.

Office landlord SingLand reported a net loss of $265.96 million for the year, which widened from a loss of $117.4 million in the previous year.

The company had actually boosted revenue by 12 per cent year-on-year to $397.5 million, helped by sales of a residential project The Trizon and higher rental income. Operations also generated 28 per cent more net profit, totalling $203.3 million.

Similarly, fair-value losses on investment properties dragged earnings down. This was $608.6 million for the year, almost double the $319.7 million a year ago.

SingLand is proposing a first and final dividend of 20 cents per ordinary share, payable on May 19.

For the next 12 months, both UIC and SingLand expect the office leasing market to be competitive with the onset of a large supply of new office space. ‘The expected economic recovery will be supportive of retail rents,’ they said.

UIC gained two cents to close at $1.90 yesterday, and SingLand rose 15 cents to end at $6.30.

Source: Business Times, 13 Feb 2010

OVERSEAS Union Enterprise (OUE), controlled by the Riady family’s Lippo group and Malaysian tycoon Ananda Krishnan Tatparamandan, has posted a net loss of $92.2 million for the year ended Dec 31, 2009, against a $40.9 million net profit in 2008.

The group did not provide fourth quarter results in its statement.

Earlier this week, OUE issued a warning that it expected to post a loss for FY2009 due to a fair value writedown on an investment property of an associated company and an impairment charge on the group’s development properties, arising from a revaluation of the properties at the end of last year.

OUE’s results statement yesterday showed a $99.9 million share of net fair value loss on investment property of an associated company. Market watchers believe this to be OUB Centre at Raffles Place.

In addition, OUE recognised $23.8 million fair value loss on investment properties of the group plus a $30.9 million impairment loss on development properties. The latter item is for The Grangeford at Leonie Hill Road, analysts say.

OUE’s latest valuation announcement as at Dec 31, 2009, listed Grangeford’s valuation at $533.8 million – about $29 million lower than the $562.8 million at end-2008. Both valuations were based on the site having 99-year leasehold tenure from 1974.

In its results statement, OUE did not identify the properties on which it had booked fair value losses and impairments. However, it released the valuations for the group’s properties at end-2009, which showed that the group’s redevelopment site at Collyer Quay comprising the former Overseas Union House (OUH) and the Change Alley Aerial Plaza (CAAP) was valued at $526.9 million at end-2009 based on the site’s lease being topped up to a fresh 99-year term from Nov 12, 2007, by the Singapore Land Authority.

This is lower than the $596.8 million the property was appraised for at end-2008 based on the earlier residual lease term of 99 years from February 1968 for OUH and 99 years from June 1970 for CAAP.

Mandarin Gallery at Orchard Road, which was opened after a major revamp in November last year, was worth $418 million at end-2009 – $193 million above the $225 million valuation at end-2008. For both valuations, the lease tenure on the site issued by The Ngee Ann Kongsi is 99 years from July 1957.

The Meritus Mandarin Singapore hotel – based on the same leasehold tenure – was valued at $800 million at Dec 31, 2009, reflecting an appreciation of $20 million from the end-2008 valuation of $780 million.

No dividend has been recommended.

OUE’s results statement yesterday showed that group revenue for FY2009 dropped 10.3 per cent to $137.5 million largely due to lower revenue from the hospitality division, resulting from the global recession and the refurbishment works at Mandarin Orchard.

The group’s rental income from investment properties was $1.5 million in 2009 (2008: $700,000) as Mandarin Gallery began operations in November last year. Overseas Union House (OUH)/Change Alley Aerial Plaza is still undergoing development.

The new project on the OUH site, 50 Collyer Quay, is expected to receive Temporary Occupation Permit in Q4 this year, BT reported this week. The 18-storey office block will have about 400,000 sq ft of net lettable area.

OUE’s cash and cash equivalents stood at about $198 million at end-2009, higher than the $182.8 million at end-2008. Net asset value per share fell from $10.87 to $10.37.

The counter ended yesterday two cents higher at $9.02.

Source: Business Times, 13 Feb 2010

HO BEE Investment has ridden the latest property wave to turn in a near quadrupling of fourth-quarter net profits to $43.1 million, from $11.3 million in the same period a year earlier.

The sterling quarter capped off a record-breaking financial year ended Dec 31, the company said.

One key factor boosting the bottom line was a $21.7 million hike in the valuation of development properties after they had been written down in the recession-hit second quarter.

Revenues shot up 157 per cent to $99.2 million from the same quarter a year earlier.

This was helped by income from new industrial properties which boosted property investment revenues by 27 per cent.

Quarterly earnings per share increased to 5.86 cents from 1.53 cents in the corresponding quarter in 2008.

Net asset value per share was $1.63 as of Dec 31 from $1.20 a year earlier.

Full-year profits of $337 million also soared, up from $93 million previously – as did full-year revenue which shot up to $1.16 billion from $302 million.

The dazzling set of figures was boosted by maiden recognition of sales from Trilight at Newton along with completed projects including Vertis, Quinterra, The Coast, Paradise Island and Orange Grove Residences.

With its positive outlook for the property market, the group will be launching Seascape, a joint-venture project with IOI Land, in Sentosa Cove by the end of the current quarter, said chief executive Chua Thian Poh.

The group will also be scouting for development opportunities in China this year, he said.

Full-year earnings per share were 45.8 cents last year, up from 12.6 cents.

Ho Bee has proposed a final dividend of two cents per share.

The group’s share price closed a cent lower at $1.74, after the announcement of the results.

Source: Straits Times, 13 Feb 2010

THE Straits Trading Building, which was torn down for redevelopment in 2006, is now completed and 90 per cent occupied.

Owner Straits Trading Company spent about $60 million on the project, said the chief executive of its property division, Eric Teng. The Grade ‘A’ office building was completed in October 2009 and has achieved an average rent of $9 per square foot.

Despite concern about looming oversupply, leases have been signed for the building – at the expense of space given up in older locations. The property has a total net lettable space of about 160,000 square feet.

Occupiers are drawn to better-value propositions in newer buildings, market watchers say. In addition, the Straits Trading Building has a unique selling point – it is the only new office building to be launched in the Raffles Place area this year.

Law firm Rajah & Tann moved in from its previous premises in the Bank of China Building nearby, while foreign law firm Conyers Dill & Pearman, which is leasing a floor in the Straits Trading Building, moved from Singapore Land Tower.

Other tenants have taken up space in the Straits Trading Building as part of expansion plans. Serviced office space provider apbcOffices is taking up two entire floors totalling 15,000 square feet as it looks to grow its business in the region.

Chief executive Tony Chen said the location and layout of the building means his company can provide creatively designed office space, for which there is growing demand.

‘Our serviced offices are positioned in the top tier of office space,’ Mr Chen said. He takes up space only at Grade ‘A’ buildings in good locations. In particular, he said the Straits Trading Building’s two sky terraces are a plus.

apbcOffices now operates 12 offices in three countries in Asia.

Source: Business Times, 13 Feb 2010