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Tag: Singapore

  • Scion of Metro store family facing drugs charges

    Scion of Metro store family facing drugs charges

    A member of the family which founded Singapore’s iconic Metro department stores, Ong Jenn, is facing more than half a dozen charges related to the possession, consumption and trafficking of cannabis – which is a Class A controlled drug.

    Ong Jenn

    According to court documents obtained, the alleged offences happened in October 2014.

    For the amount of cannabis Ong has been accused of trafficking, he faces between five and 20 years’ jail and five to 15 strokes of the cane for each charge. For the possession and consumption of a controlled drug, the 41-year-old could be jailed for up to 10 years and/or fined up to S$20,000 per charge. His case has been scheduled for a pre-trial conference on Aug 19.

    Court documents detail how on or before Oct 30, 2014, Ong allegedly conspired with Mohamad Ismail Abdul Majid to traffic cannabis. On that date at about 4.20pm, along Jurong Port Road near bus stop B05, Mohamad Ismail was in possession of one block of “not less than 92.68 grams of… cannabis” and another block containing “385.1 grams of fragmented vegetable matter which was analysed and found to be cannabis mixture”.

    The charges allege that Mohamad Ismail had the two blocks so they could be delivered to Ong.

    At about 1.20pm the next day, in a car parked at Ngee Ann City, Ong was found in possession of a vaporiser, which is an inhalation device. According to the charge sheets, he allegedly intended to use the vaporiser to consume a Class A drug. Ong is also accused of consuming “11-nor-delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid”, which is a component of marijuana.

    Authorities found Ong allegedly in possession of one block of cannabis weighing 75.32 grams and one block of cannabis mixture weighing 284.7 grams at a home in Bishopsgate at 2.10pm. He is accused of having these for the purpose of trafficking.

    Ong is represented by a team from law firm WongPartnership, including Senior Counsel Tan Chee Meng. Ong’s lawyers declined to comment as proceedings are ongoing.

    According to his LinkedIn profile, from 2003 until August this year Ong was a Business Development Manager at Metro Holdings, whose core businesses are retail, property development and investment. The retail interests include three Metro stores in Singapore. He’s also the founder of Tompang, a peer-to-peer retail platform operator.

    Metro’s latest annual report lists Ong as a “substantial shareholder” in Metro Holdings as at Jun 13. Ong is the son of the late Jopie Ong Hie Koan, who helmed Metro from 1973 until his death in February this year.

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  • Singtel, Ericsson complete SEA’s first 5G demo

    Singtel, Ericsson complete SEA’s first 5G demo

    Singtel and Ericsson have completed the first live demonstration of 5G prototype technology, achieving a peak throughput of 27.5Gbps.

    The demonstration used Ericsson’s 5G radio prototypes to showcase the capabilities offered by the new networking technology, which also included demonstrating a latency as low as 2ms.

    At the demonstration, Singtel and Ericsson also showcased the world’s first end-to-end low latency live video streaming over 5G.

    Ericsson and Singel signed an MoU last year to collaborate on testing technology candidates for the 5G standard. Last week, the companies completed a live trial of pre-standard License Assisted Access (LAA) technology over Singtel’s 4G network.

    Singtel group CTO Tay Soo Meng said the collaboration is aimed at ensuring the operator’s customers have access to the latest mobile technologies.

    “We strive to upgrade our networks with cutting-edge enhancements, constantly offering our customers all the possibilities that technology brings. Singapore is at the forefront of the most connected cities in the world and now we want to take it to the next level,” he said.

    “5G is very important to the Singtel Group as it will support advanced communication needs. To ensure the Group continues our technology leadership in the mobile communications domain, we are exploring, studying and trialling pre-5G technologies with Ericsson.”

    The operator is preparing for the anticipated standardization of 5G in 2020 by deploying key pre-5G technologies including carrier aggregation, 256QAM and NB-IoT.

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  • Revenues up, profit down for Shilla Duty Free

    Revenues up, profit down for Shilla Duty Free

    The Shilla Duty Free has posted a 29 per cent year-on-year rise in second-quarter revenues for its Korean downtown stores, rebounding from the MERS-ravaged tourism sector at the same time last year.

    Downtown store revenue climbed to KW538.2 billion (US$473.6 million) for the quarter, with growth outstripping the 23.5 per cent increase in the total Korean duty-free market, especially with higher competition after the government issued more licences last year.

    However, Korean airport sales fell 19.2 per cent to KW198 billion, driven by a downturn in Incheon International Airport revenues because of reduced floor space.

    Overseas duty-free revenues (mainly Singapore’s Changi Airport and Macau International Airport) rose by 16.3 per cent year-on-year to KW121.3 billion. However, Shilla posted a KW12.3 billion operating loss on its overseas stores, mainly because of the high cost of entry at Changi. This hit overall profits, which fell 51.4 per cent to KW15.4 billion. Even the Korean downtown business fell 39 per cent to KW27.7 billion.

    A factor in that decline has been the rocketing costs of commissions to Chinese travel retail agents – up from between 7 and 100 per cent to around 23 per cent, according to The Moodie Davitt Report.

    The Shilla Duty Free is the key revenue and profits contributor to parent Hotel Shilla, whose consolidated revenues rose 13 per cent year-on-year to KW954.1 billion, while operating profits fell 36.04 per cent to KW18.7 billion.

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  • Apple makes significant progress on its first retail store in Singapore

    Apple makes significant progress on its first retail store in Singapore

    Apple’s first retail store in Singapore appears to be progressing nicely, with new photos obtained by MacRumors proving that the construction of the store’s glass facade and canopy is now well underway. Apple confirmed in November 2015 that its first-ever store in the Southeast Asia city-state will be powered by hundred percent renewable energy, but did not provide a timeframe for the opening.

    The store location has been under renovation since earlier this year.

    Apple Store coming to Singapore

    The outlet is located in Singapore’s four-story Knightsbridge luxury shopping center.

    Fitness chain Pure Fitness and four other stores inside the Knightsbridge center are set to close next month to make way for an Apple store. In November 2015, Apple posted job listings seeking various positions for the Singaporean store as the company’s retail boss Angela Ahrendts told TechCrunch the following:

    We have more than 900 incredible employees working in our Singapore contact center and are thrilled to begin hiring the team that will open our first Apple Store in Singapore—an incredible international city and shopping destination. We can’t wait to deliver the service, education and entertainment that is loved by Apple customers around the world.

    “The project allegedly has an expected completion date of October 31, 2016, suggesting that the store could open as early as November,” notes the article.

    Apple store Singapore construction

    As per Reuters in November 2015, solar energy developer Sunseap Group will provide Apple with 100 percent renewable electricity from its solar energy systems built atop more than 800 buildings in Singapore, made possible through financing from Apple.

    “The deal will make Apple the first company in Singapore to run exclusively on renewable energy and marks a significant step in its bid to power 100 percent of its facilities and operations worldwide with clean fuel,” as per Reuters.

    Apple’s retail push in Latin America

    As reported, Apple’s retail push in Latin America has just begun with its first store in Mexico City’s Via Santa Fe now being constructed and additional outlets being planned in Guadalajara and Monterrey.

    Apple Stores may be also coming to Chile, Peru and Argentina, as per sources.

    Source: MacRumors

  • How the new Sephora flagship store at Ion Orchard lure shoppers back to brick-and-mortar …

    How the new Sephora flagship store at Ion Orchard lure shoppers back to brick-and-mortar …

    French multi-brand beauty retail giant Sephora opened its new local flagship store at Ion Orchard to much fanfare last Friday. The store sprawls across 10,000sqf on basement 2, and features a refreshed store concept from its previous premises on level 1, incorporating a boutique-within-a-boutique concept and better lighting.

    The queue to be among the first paying customers to enter the store at noon on July 22 started forming at 9.30pm the night before, and there were 1,000 people waiting outside by the time the store was opened. Sephora vouchers of S$100, S$50 and S$10 were handed out to the first 500 people in the queue, while limited-edition gift packs were given to the next 500.

    Among those in the pre-opening queue was 21-year-old sales associate Catherine Low, who had joined the snaking line at 6.15am on opening day. “I decided to join the queue to be among the first in line because I have been lusting after Kat Von D products for a long time and now I can finally purchase it in stores here,” she said. “When I got in I made a beeline for the Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Lolita. This shade is really popular and I was afraid it would be sold out”.

    The flagship store boasts a global-first for Sephora — a Kat Von D store-in-store that carries the full range of the cosmetics brand that was founded by the celebrity Los Angeles-based tattoo artist, who shot to fame on reality television show LA Ink. Close to 4,000 products from the Kat Von D range were sold on launch day, with the sales of the brand’s popular Everlasting Liquid Lipsticks accounting for half of the sales.

    Kat Von D currently takes pole position at Sephora in Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore since it was launched on Sephora’s local e-commerce site on July 7 and in the retail stores in Malaysia and Thailand on July 16. It has racked up over six figures in sales in these three countries to date.

    The experiential element

    What Sephora nailed was creating a retail environment shoppers are excited to be in. “Sephora Ion Orchard has always been one of the top 10 (outlets), not just in Asia, but in the world, so it was the natural choice to launch the first Kat Von D Shop-in-Shop together with Sephora Ion Orchard’s new home to provide a more vibrant and electrifying retail experience for her many fans,” said Mathieu Sidokpohou, Sephora’s managing director of South-east Asia.

    sephora

    Other highlights at the store include professional cosmetics brand Make Up For Ever’s “sushi bar” concept counter, which features a conveyor belt where shoppers can pick up bento boxes of makeup items, exclusive-to-store brands Cover FX and Zoeva and a Made-in-Sephora gondola featuring house-brand products.

    These in-store highlights, together with the prime positioning of the store, which is a stone’s throw from Orchard MRT Station, is set to further strengthen Sephora Ion Orchard’s position as one of the top-grossing beauty retail spots in Singapore and the region. The anticipated footfall at the flagship Sephora store also presents beauty retailers with an opportunity to create a buzz around big campaigns and launches before products are rolled out to the rest of the island. The store is the first in Asia to carry all 100 lipstick and 50 lip pencil shades of cult US cosmetics brand Urban Decay’s highly hyped 10th anniversary collection.

    The beauty retailers spoke to welcome the added experiential retail elements at the store. “The new design layout of two main aisles instead of just one allows more visibility for brands from different categories and allows customers more interaction with the brands, which translates to a refreshing customer experience,” said Chen Jingwen, Nudestix’s brand manager for South-east Asia, which is one of the beauty brands that are exclusively available at Sephora outlets here.

    Avid Sephora customer and 98.7FM DJ Sonia Chew agreed: “I love the new store for the vast amount of brands they have and it’s also got a much edgier and fresher feel to it with plenty of corners to explore in the store — and to discover more goodies to buy! Sephora attracts the true-blue beauty junkies, and I always feel like I have a secret bond with the people who shop there.”

    Naturally, the management of Ion Orchard is pleased with the response as Sephora’s relocation is part of the mall’s strategy to keep the retail scene healthy. “The relocation of Sephora is part of our ongoing efforts to refresh our tenant mix with new and established brands that have their flagship presence at Ion Orchard, and to enhance the existing beauty cluster,” said Chris Chong, chief executive of Orchard Turn Developments, adding that this move had been in the works since last year. “Ion Orchard houses many international brands whose stores at Ion Orchard rank among their top 10 globally for size and sales. Sephora counts as one of these. We have been working with Sephora to delight our shoppers with high-profile celebrity appearances by Sandara Park, David Gandy and Kat Von D, and will continue to partner them in such activities and mall campaigns.”

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  • Datapipe drives Baozun digital transformation

    Datapipe drives Baozun digital transformation

    Datapipe, a leading global provider of managed hosting and cloud services for the enterprise, has led the cloud migration and digital transformation of China’s largest brand eCommerce services provider Baozun Inc.

    Baozun has shifted its IT systems to Datapipe’s managed cloud, tapping Datapipe’s expertise as a Managed Services Provider to handle its cloud migration and maintenance. Results include decreasing the time to on-board new clients by 500 per cent, reducing the cost of hosting by 20 per cent, reducing maintenance  from 200 man hours to virtually zero, freeing Baozun’s IT team of over 20 employees to focus on core business activities. Datapipe also reduced Baozun’s server downtime to zero per cent, enabling Baozun to guarantee a 99.95 per cent uptime to its clients – which include over 100 global brands in over 50 countries.

    With operations across China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and the rest of Asia Pacific, Baozun offers end-to-end brand eCommerce solutions to more-than 100 international clients. These include brands in the apparel, appliances, electronics, home and furnishing, food and health, cosmetics, insurance and automobile categories. Baozun helps these companies operate eCommerce sites on China’s most popular online marketplaces, such as Alibaba’s Tmall and JD.com. Key to ensuring their clients’ success is the ability for Baozun to provide scalable, highly available and secure end to end solutions integrating front end shopping experiences with supply chain management and distribution systems.

    Colin Chan, VP of Asia at Datapipe says Baozun has hundreds of global business partners, spanning millions of customers and transactions.

    “Given the scope of its operations, ‎and the unique nature of eCommerce in China, where some days have 1000-times the transaction and visitor numbers than others, the challenge of ensuring infrastructure is able to scale up to meet business demand‎ is very real. We’re pleased to work with Baozun, by migrating their core workloads to a 100 per cent scalable cloud environment and providing management of their infrastructure 24×7.

    “With their IT now supporting their ever-growing business, Baozun is better positioned to take aim at the multi-trillion dollar eCommerce opportunity in China and Asia wide.”

    Prior to working with Datapipe, all of Baozun’s data ran on web servers hosted externally – unsustainable given the business’ rapid growth, because as transactions volumes grew, so too did the server load; consequently, server sizes increased, placing significant pressure on its IT team around maintenance, cost, speed and scale.

    Tony Wu, CTO at Baozun, says Datapipe came highly recommended. “They brought significant expertise in managing cloud environments – including for other large eCommerce ‎businesses in China. They delivered a high-level of customer support, were very affordable and are able to provide open source as well as private cloud services to meet our unique needs. By Datapipe managing our cloud deployment, Baozun is able to focus on other crucial technology processes, accelerating our growth and delivering shareholder value.”

    China surpassed the US last year to become the world’s largest retail eCommerce market, and is expected to cross US$1.21 trillion in retail eCommerce sales in 2017, according to eMarketer. While eCommerce is growing strongly, running an eCommerce business comes with its own set of unique challenges, particularly around scale. When online promotions are launched, for example, Baozun sees significant spikes in sales volumes – up to 100x that of a normal day. On Singles Day in 2015 (11 November), Baozun processed 650,000 orders in the first hour and 3.5 million orders within a span of 24 hours.

    Datapipe recently drove the eCommerce transformation of Challenger Technologies Limited, Singapore’s largest electronics retailer. The company is seeing rapid growth across Asia-Pacific. It has doubled regional manpower year-on-year, with close to 100 employees now in Hong Kong and double the customer base in the region.

    Datapipe is the managed hosting and cloud services provider with the most complete set of services, global locations, and industry leading partners. Datapipe delivers choice, control and confidence in architecting, deploying, and managing multi-platform hybrid IT solutions tailored to individual customer needs. Optimising mission-critical and day-to-day enterprise IT operations, Datapipe enables businesses to transform, innovate, and scale. Backed by a global team of experienced professionals and next-generation data centers Datapipe provides comprehensive security, governance, orchestration, and analytics solutions.

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  • McDonald’s Singapore and Malaysia for sale

    McDonald’s Singapore and Malaysia for sale

    Franchise rights for 20 years for McDonald’s Singapore and Malaysia could fetch S$542.8 million (US$400 million).

    The rights have been put on the market as part of McDonald’s Corp’s international turnaround plan put in place by new CEO Steve Easterbrook last year. With a US$112 billion market value, the corporation is revamping its ownership models throughout Asia, including plans to offload its China, Hong Kong and South Korea master franchises.

    McDonald’s has adopted a “development licensee model” for Malaysia and Singapore, says a Singapore spokesman. It is negotiating with candidates “committed to helping accelerate growth and innovation in Malaysia and Singapore”.

    McDonald’s owns most of its outlets in Asia, and eventually aims to have 95 per cent of its restaurants in the region under local ownership.

    Singapore has more than 120 McDonald’s restaurants with about 9000 employees, while in
    Malaysia there are more than 250 restaurants.

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  • Singtel launches mobile newsstand service

    Singtel launches mobile newsstand service

    Singtel has launched a new service offering subscriptions to digital newspapers and magazines at discount rates, and with unmetered access to their content.

    The Singtel Newsstand service will at launch offer Singapore’s largest newspaper the Straits Times, as well as international publications including the Wall Street Journal, TIME and Fortune Magazine.

    The titles will be offered at discounts of up to 20% off regular rates, and Singtel postpaid customers will be able to access online articles, podcasts and videos from the publications without drawing on their data allowances.

    Singtel said it plans to add other publications including the New York Times, the Economist and the Financial Times in the coming months.

    The operator will also offer postpaid customers the option to sign up for print subscriptions to the publications and be charged via their monthly mobile bill.

    Singtel has partnered with Samsung to offer a free three months subscription to Singapore customers who purchase Samsung devices from Singtel from now until mid next year.

    Singtel vice president of mobile marketing Diana Chen said the new initiative reflects the fact that the operator’s customers are increasingly using their mobile devices to access news and current affairs daily.

    “With Singtel Newsstand, we make premium news content from the world’s top publications more affordable and accessible than ever before,” she said.

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  • Award-winning Singaporean jewellery brand expands to Hong Kong

    Award-winning Singaporean jewellery brand expands to Hong Kong

    Singaporean contemporary jewellery brand Luvenus Jewellery announced today (July 26) that it has opened its first overseas outlet at Hong Kong International Airport to showcase its designs to the millions of travellers that pass through the airport each year.

    Launched in 2012, Luvenus is an award-winning company specialising in pure 22-karat and 24-karat gold jewellery with diverse and unique product designs. It also carries a collection of fully certified diamond jewellery, said the Managing Director, Mr Parthiban Murugaiyan.

    He said that the newly opened store at Hong Kong International Airport is the brand’s fourth outlet worldwide and first outside Singapore. Luvenus has been recognised for its quality service and has received several awards from Singapore’s Changi Airport.

    “Hong Kong is a major tourist and business travel destination for both Mainland and international visitors. Having a retail outlet at Hong Kong International Airport is part of our strategic plan for expansion into the Mainland. We will be using Hong Kong as our regional base from which to grow our business and better serve the needs of our customers,” he added. Luvenus Jewellery hopes to expand further in Hong Kong and the Mainland market and would consider various models including franchising.

    Associate Director-General of Investment Promotion Dr Jimmy Chiang said, “Hong Kong International Airport is one of the world’s busiest airports in terms of international passenger traffic. It is an excellent showcase for retailers. I wish Luvenus Jewellery every success in our city and look forward to its continued expansion from Hong Kong.”

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  • Singtel, Ericsson demonstrate LAA on live 4G network

    Singtel, Ericsson demonstrate LAA on live 4G network

    Singtel and Ericsson announced they have completed a live trial of pre-standard License Assisted Access (LAA) technology on Singtel’s network.

    The trial in an office building at Serangoon North involved a 20 MHz block of licensed 1800-MHz spectrum, augmented with 20 MHz in the unlicensed 5-GHz band.

    A stationary live test achieved an LTE LAA throughput of 275 Mbps, while a second test demonstrated LAA’s ability to co-exist with Wi-Fi signals without degrading the Wi-Fi user experience.

    The trial also involved coverage testing to validate the technology’s ability to improve link performance, coverage and medium access control compared to Wi-Fi access points.

    Announcing the results, Singtel said the testing showcases the potential for LAA to improve network capacity for mobile customers, in a market where nearly 85% of mobile traffic is generated indoors.

    Due to the success of the trial the operator plans to progressively deploy LAA technology in Singapore over a two-year period starting in the first half of 2017, as part of efforts to evolve its networks in preparation for the introduction of 5G.

    The company said in the future, customers with LAA-capable handsets will be provided with peak download throughput of up to 450 Mbps.

    “To provide our customers with a superior mobile experience when they are indoors, we are continuing to invest in new technologies that will increase indoor 4G speeds,” Singtel managing director of networks consumer Singapore Tay Yeow Lian said.

    “We are pleased to be the first in Singapore to showcase LAA technology live. This is an integral part of the LTE-Advanced evolution and will bring us one step closer to our 5G goals.”

  • Singapore’s StarHub to triple LTE upload speeds

    Singapore’s StarHub to triple LTE upload speeds

    Singapore’s StarHub plans to start rolling out carrier aggregation and 64 quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) technology by the end of the year to triple peak upload speeds to 150Mbps.

    The operator recently completed a trial of the technologies with Nokia, aggregating spectrum in the 1800-MHz and 2600-MHz bands.

    Following the successful tests, StarHub plans to start deploying the technology starting in the Marina Bay and Orchard areas in time for the city’s year-end celebrations. A nationwide rollout is planned for 2017.

    “The ability to upload quickly is fast becoming a necessity for our mobile customers. In fact, we saw a close to 50% increase in upload traffic year-on-year, as customers increasingly share high definition videos and photos instantly with the world,” StarHub CTO Mock Pak Lum said.

    “Collaborating with technology partners such as Nokia, we are driving innovation in 4G for the benefit of our customers amid continued growth in mobile data use.”

    Nokia head of Asia South Nicolas Bouverot added that the vendor is “committed to supporting StarHub in its quest to deliver a world-class service experience to its customers. Our technologies will enable the operator to improve the upload and download speeds of its 4G network even at peak traffic times to enrich the user experience.”

  • Fei Fah Novelty Food to open first flagship retail store and cafe 155 South Bridge

    Fei Fah Novelty Food to open first flagship retail store and cafe 155 South Bridge

    “A woman teared (up) when she tried our mooncake at the Hong Kong Food Expo,” recalled Lawrence Lau, the chief executive officer and managing director of Fei Fah International Group, which produces Chui Lau Heung mooncakes.

    That was when he realised how similar the food business is to his family’s traditional trade, said the 50-year-old, third-generation owner of Fei Fah, which started out as a medical hall on South Bridge Road and continues to produce medicinal balms under the brand, Fei Fah Medical. He explained that his grandfather had started the medical hall with the intention of providing for his family. “But once he sorted out his finances, he took up skills as a Chinese physician to help lessen the suffering of others and make them happy.

    “Food does the same thing: I might not be lessening your pain but I am creating joy and happiness through good taste. I am creating bonding experiences between people by selling a product that they can share and enjoy.”

    Lau entered the food business by chance, when he was looking to diversify the family business. “Our Hong Kong office for the medical business was bleeding and I was looking for a breakthrough to turn things around.” It was then that he met a durian mooncake manufacturer in Singapore, who was seeking partners to help export the confection. This led to the creation of Chui Lau Heung mooncakes in 2003 and the subsequent inception of Fei Fah Novelty Food in 2005. “It was challenging understanding the product, learning about food storage, logistics, and how to market the product in Hong Kong,” he said. It was a bold move given the small market in Hong Kong, as few as two out of 10 consumers were receptive to durian. But the company decided to enter the market anyway, said Lau. The subsequent rise of budget airlines made travelling to Singapore and Malaysia affordable for those in Hong Kong and around the South China Sea. This meant more of them were spending time on our shores and getting acquainted with local flavours. “And with durian, once they tried it, they went nuts over it. Today, 70 per cent of Hong Kongers are not put off by durians and demand is so much higher. In fact we are seeing demand also from mainland China, and that is a huge market,” he added. Chui Lau Heung is currently one of Hong Kong’s top five selling mooncake brands.

    When Fei Fah Novelty Food’s first flagship retail store and cafe 155 South Bridge opens at Pagoda Street on August 1, Singaporeans will finally get a chance to taste this homegrown product that is sold across continents, from Hong Kong, Macau and Guangzhou, to Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, Houston, Honolulu, New York, and Chicago, to Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal and Vancouver.

    Look out for their new offering of crystal durian mini mooncake — the brand’s 2016 creation that features a creamy mix of D24 and Mao Shan Wang durian filling encased in a tender, see-through crystal skin. The novelty mooncake is made to resemble a faceted jewel. Lau shared that the idea was conceived in November last year, and that it took a long time for his master chef to perfect the recipe, as creating the crystal skin proved more challenging than anybody had thought. While not revealing numbers, Lau said that quantities are limited and stocks for this mooncake will not be replenished once they are sold. The crystal mooncakes are already available for early bird orders in Hong Kong, Macau and the United States.

    Apart from the mooncakes, the shop and cafe spanning two levels will showcase products under Fei Fah Novelty Food, which includes items such as durian honey and fish bak kuah, and also those from Fei Fah Medical, such as traditional balms and medical oils. Koh Yuen Lin

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  • Singapore retail rent decline worsens

    Singapore retail rent decline worsens

    The Singapore retail rent decline gathered pace in the last quarter according to data from Edmund Tie & Company.

    In the second quarter, retail rents across the board fell by 3.9 per cent quarter-quarter.  That was double the 1.9 per cent decline of the preceding quarter.

    Amid weaker demand, occupancy levels also dipped, falling by 0.5 percentage points quarter-on-quarter to 92.2 per cent.

    “In light of declining rents, several established retailers have taken – or are taking – advantage of the lower rents to reinforce their brand presence in Singapore through flagship stores,” the company’s quarterly review said.

    These include:

    • Choo Yilin at Mandarin Gallery.
    • HP at Marina Square.
    • Christian Dada at 268 Orchard.
    • Victoria’s Secret at Mandarin Gallery.
    • Uniqlo at Orchard Central.
    • Michael Kors at Mandarin Gallery.

    victoria secret

    “As the sector undergoes bouts of restructuring, retailers are also constantly reinventing themselves to reach out to the rising number of technological-savvy consumers. This includes the recent launch of digital wallets (eg: Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Android Pay) which a string of established retailers have adopted, including Starbucks, Uniqlo, NTUC FairPrice and Cold Storage.”

    Headquartered in Singapore and supported by offices in Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok, Edmund Tie & Company is an established real-estate consulting firm that operates across Malaysia, Thailand and other countries in Southeast Asia.

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  • Epicentre Asia raises cash for expansion

    Epicentre Asia raises cash for expansion

    Apple products retailer Epicentre Asia plans to raise S$11.45 million (US$8.44 million) by issuing 45.8 million private shares to new buyers.

    KGI Fraser Securities is the placement agent for the issue, with the price being not be less than 25 cents per new share. These placement shares represent 49.1 per cent of the current
    share capital of Epicentre.

    Epicentre has five stores in Singapore, including two on Orchard Rd which could be expected to take a big hit in turnover terms when Singapore’s first Apple Store opens later this year. It has six stores in Malaysia and also sells online.

    Half of the net proceeds raised by the share issue will be used to support business development and provide liquidity for expansion. The rest will be deployed for general working capital purposes, the company says.

    Earlier this year, Epicentre raised $1 million on debt crowd-finance platform MoolahSense, and the company says this debt will be repaid through the sale of merchandise.

  • CapitaLand Mall Trust overcomes ‘soft’ retail market

    CapitaLand Mall Trust overcomes ‘soft’ retail market

    CapitaLand Mall Trust (CMT) has overcome what it describes as a “soft” Singapore retail market to increase its profit and distribution.

    A 3.7 per cent increase in distributable income to S$193.9 million (US$143 million) for the first half-year coincides with a second quarter distributable income of S$97.1 million, a 3.3 per cent increase over the $94 million for the same period last year.

    “Despite a soft retail market, CMT continued to produce steady operational results in the first half,” says CMTML CEO Wilson Tan. “Backed by our portfolio of well-located shopping malls and extensive network of retailers, CMT had year-on-year increases of 3.6 and 2.3 per cent in shopper traffic and tenants’ sales per square foot respectively.

    “As at June 30, portfolio occupancy remained high at 97.9 per cent.”

    CMT’s Funan DigitaLife Mall, which closed from July 1, will undergo a three year redevelopment to become a lifestyle destination in the revitalised Civic and Cultural District, says Tan. Scheduled to be ready in the fourth quarter of 2019, the integrated development will include retail, office and serviced residences. The mall redevelopment is expected to achieve a return on investment of 6.5 per cent.

    For the second quarter, CMT registered higher gross revenue and net property income (NPI) of 7.1 and 6 per cent respectively year-on-year, mainly through a contribution of $14.5 million to gross revenue from Bedok Mall, acquired on October 1, and higher rental revenue from IMM Building, Tampines Mall and Bukit Panjang Plaza after asset enhancement.

    This was partially offset by the divestment of Rivervale Mall in December and lower gross revenue from Funan DigitaLife Mall.

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