HSBC Raises Hong Kong Prime Rate After Fed Hike and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

The rising price of borrowing leads today’s roundup of regional real estate news as Hong Kong’s largest bank raises interest rates to a 16-year high. Also in the headlines today, a pair of shophouses has changed hands in Singapore’s Serangoon district and a Singapore REIT holding US office properties suffers a 17 percent drop in distributions.

HSBC Raises Prime Hong Kong Rate to 16-Year High

HSBC raised its prime lending rate, the first among Hong Kong’s three currency-issuing banks to increase the cost of funding after the local monetary authority hiked the city’s base rate by a quarter point in lockstep with the US Federal Reserve.

The lending rate to the bank’s best customers – the prime rate – will rise by 12.5 basis points to 5.875 percent starting Friday , HSBC said. Its savings rate will rise by the same amount to 0.875 percent per annum. Read more>>

Savills Brokers $13.2M Singapore Shophouse Sale

Savills has found a buyer for a pair of adjacent shophouses in Singapore’s Serangoon district at a price of S$17.49 million ($13.2 million) the property consultancy announced on LinkedIn on Thursday.

Occupying a 999-year leasehold site, the two properties have a combined floor area of approximately 4,700 square feet (437 square feet), pricing the sale at around S$3,721 per square foot. Savills had kicked off a tender for the properties in the Serangoon Garden private estate in April of this year. Read more>>

Keppel Pacific Oak US REIT Distributions Dip 17%

Distributions per unit for Keppel Pacific Oak US REIT fell 17.2 percent to US$0.025 for the SGX-listed trust’s first half ended Jun 30. The returns to unit holders were down from US$0.0302 in the same period a year earlier, due to higher financing costs, rising interest rates and divestments of two of its properties in Atlanta.

Gross revenue was up 2.4 percent to US$75.9 million for the half-year period, from US$74.1 million in the year-earlier period, the real estate investment trust’s (REIT) manager said on Wednesday (Jul 26). Read more>>

Trading of Country Garden Bonds Halted on 20% Price Drop

Trading of Chinese property developer Country Garden Holding’s Shenzhen-listed bond was halted on Wednesday after a more than 20 percent drop in price, the Shenzhen stock exchange said in a statement.

The bond dropped 21 percent to 30 yuan, while another bond issued by the firm slumped 50 percent to 30.1 yuan, exchange data showed. Country Garden, one of China’s biggest property developers, recently saw its share and bond prices fall amid concern of cash crunch. Read more>>

Alibaba-backed Brokerage E-House China Wins Approval for Debt Restructuring Plan

Creditors of E-House (China) Enterprise Holdings have approved a debt restructuring plan, paving the way for the property brokerage and consultancy to finalise a solution on bond defaults totalling US$600 million.

The Shanghai-based company, which is backed by Alibaba Group Holding, received support from 75.6 percent of the bondholders, according to a filing to the Hong Kong exchange on Wednesday. E-House will file petitions with the courts in the Cayman Islands and Hong Kong to commence the restructuring around July 31, it said. Read more>>

CapitaLand China Trust Distributions Slide 8.8%

CapitaLand China Trust’s distributions per unit (DPU) fell by 8.8 percent to S$0.0374 ($0.0283) for its first half ended 30 June, from S$0.0410 the year before. The REIT’s performance for the six-month period took a hit from changes in exchange rates as the Singapore dollar strengthened against the renminbi, the manager said on Thursday (Jul 27).

Gross revenue fell 7.4 percent to S$184.5 million from S$199.3 million in the year-ago period. In RMB terms, gross revenue was up 0.8 percent on the year to 947.8 million yuan, from 940.3 million yuan, supported by a stronger performance in the REIT’s retail portfolio. Read more>>

Mapletree Industrial Trust Distributions Dip 2.9%

Mapletree Industrial Trust’s distribution per unit fell 2.9 percent to S$0.0339 ($0.0256) for the first quarter ended Jun 30, from S$0.0349 in the same period a year earlier. This follows a private placement in May which led to an increase in the number of units in issue.

The amount available for distribution to unitholders was down 2.5 percent year on year to S$89.9 million, from S$92.1 million previously, MIT’s manager said on Wednesday (Jul 26). Read more>>

ESR-Logos REIT Points to Stronger Balance Sheet After Fundraising

ESR-Logos REIT’s S$300 million ($227 million) equity fundraising earlier this year has caused its distribution per unit (DPU) to fall 5.6 percent to S$0.01378 for its first half year ended June, from S$0.01460 the year before, due to the enlarged unit base.

But Adrian Chui, chief executive of its manager, pointed to how proceeds from the fundraising, combined with that from the announced divestments of seven assets for S$337 million, has recapitalised and strengthened the REIT’s balance sheet. Read more>>

Suntec REIT Returns Weakened by Exchange Rate Woes

Suntec Real Estate Investment Trust’s distribution per unit (DPU) fell 27.7 percent to S$0.03476 ($$0.02626) for its first half ended Jun 30, from S$0.04810 in the same period a year earlier. Although the REIT’s operational performance continued to improve, higher financing costs and a weaker Australian dollar and pound weighed on distributable income, the REIT’s manager said on Wednesday (Jul 26).

Gross revenue was up 10.2 percent to S$224.3 million for the half-year period, from S$203.5 million in the year-earlier period. This was mainly due to higher revenue from Suntec City, Suntec Singapore and The Minster Building. Read more>>

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