SIA reported August operating statistics that were firm, with passenger carriage up 8.6% yoy to 8,560m p-km on 3.1% growth in capacity, with load factor up by 4.1 percentage points to 82.4%. This was attributed to strong leisure travel demand during the Lebaran/Hari Raya holidays coupled with returning summer traffic. YTD, the Group's passenger business is tracking our assumptions, with carriage up by 3.5% on 3.6% increase in capacity, and load factor at 79.5%. However, SIA also warned that yields remain under pressure due to ongoing efforts to stimulate demand.

The cargo business remained weak, with carriage declining 5.7% yoy to 541 tonne-km on 5% decrease in capacity, and load factor dropping slightly to 60.1%. Silkair posted 10.7% increase in carriage to 482m p-km, but with a 13.4% increase in capacity, load factor was slightly lower at 71.7% for the month.

Ezra Holdings has issued S$25m in aggregate principal amount of 5.00% Fixed Rate Notes due 2015. The net proceeds from the issue will principally be used by the company for financing general working capital, corporate purposes and to refinance existing borrowings of the company and its subsidiaries.

United Engineers(UE) has entered into a deal to buy Hewlett-Packard's freehold premises on Alexandra Road - an industrial building and a commercial office tower - for $402m. HP will lease back the 12-storey office tower fronting Alexandra Road for three years, with two options to extend for periods of six months each. HP will also lease back the eight-storey industrial building behind the tower for five years, with three options to renew for five years each. These leases provide UE with an immediate and steady rental income stream while it evaluates the longer term redevelopment plan for the sites.

DMX has been awarded a four-year contract to supply IT Professional Services to the Hong Kong Government. Under this new four-year award, DMX will provide an array of professional information security and independent testing services for the various departments and bureaus of Hong Kong Government.

Blumont is planning significant investment in coal miner Resource Generation. Blumont will subscribe for new shares to be issued by RES at a placement price of A$0.22 per share for a total investment consideration of between A$20.97m and A$22.1m. This will represent approximately 15% of the potential enlarged share capital of RES. The proceeds will be used for the further advancement of RES's Boikarabelo coal mine located in South Africa, which has probable reserves of 744.8m tonnes and existing gross resources of 6.4 bn tonnes.

Blumont will fund the investment from internal resources. SGX-listed Noble Group has a 12.85% stake in RES and a strategic partnership which includes substantial off-take contracts and a secured loan facility.

Chip Eng Seng has been awarded a S$103.8m contract by HDB for the construction works at Jurong West Neighbourhood 6 Contract 31. The contract comprises the construction of 6 blocks of residential buildings with 700 dwelling units and other community facilities. The construction period is approximately 31 months.

Logistics Holdingsintends to invest about $5m in a joint venture to build a pre-cast products manufacturing plant in Iskandar. Its partner, Coninco, a licensed supplier of pre-cast building materials approved by the HDB, will hold a 20% stake.

Asiasons Capitalhas placed out 212.6m new shares to raised S$254m. The proceeds will equip the Company with readily available cash resources to capitalise on potential opportunities as and when they arise, in particular, in the mineral and oil & gas industries due to the recent volatilities giving rise to many good opportunities.

Singapore's non-oil exports unexpectedly fell in August due to a decline in both electronics and non-electronics shipments. Exports of goods made in Singapore fell 6.2% y-o-y in August, the seventh consecutive month of contraction. The data is lower than market expectation for exports to expand 2.4% and also lower than July's 1.9% drop. Compared with the previous month, exports fell 6%, after contracting 1.8% in July. Electronics exports declined 9.2% on year, after falling 11.1% in July, while non-electronics shipments fell 4.7%, compared with a 2.9% rise in July. In the non-electronics sector, pharmaceutical exports fell 31.1%, after contracting 32.0% in the previous month. Shipments to the European Union, its second biggest export destination, fell 20.8% in August from a year earlier, compared with a 38.5% onyear fall in the previous month. Exports to the U.S. fell 6.7% on year after rising 17.4% in July. Exports to China, however, accelerated to 15.3% after the previous month's 4.8% increase. China is now Singapore's biggest export destination.

New private home sales recovered last month but remained subdued by the double whammy of the Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR) framework and the Hungry Ghost month. Only 742 private homes transacted in August, excluding transactions for the hybrid executive condominiums (ECs). This was 54% higher than July's 482 units, but was just over half the 1,427 sales recorded in the corresponding month last year. Developers launched 927 units for sale last month, an improvement over July's 557 homes. Mass-market residences continued to dominate activity in August, with Outside Central Region (OCR) homes making up 73% of sales and 76% of launches. Units from the Rest of Central Region (RCR) made up 15% of sales and 13% of launches, while Core Central Region homes accounted for 12% of sales and 10% of launches. Including ECs, 1,468 homes were moved in August, compared with 1,819 homes launched. Demand for ECs remained sturdy, with 726 units sold last month, compared with July's 112 units. Property consultants believe sales will improve this month, with developers having launched the Glades and The Skywoods, and with Thomson Three to be launched soon.

Prime office rents crept up in Q3 amid higher leasing enquiries, a report released by Knight Frank showed. Reversing seven consecutive quarters of negative or flat growth, prime Grade A+ rents in Marina Bay and Raffles Place posted an increase of 1.4% quarter-on-quarter, hitting between $9.90 and $12.00 psf. Outside of the Central Business District (CBD), Orchard Road's average office rents for Grade A space rose 3.1% year-on-year, bolstered by rising asking rents for smaller office spaces. Compared with the last quarter, Orchard's average office rents inched up 0.6%, reaching between $7.00 and $10.90 psf. In the Suntec/Marina Centre/City Hall area, average rents held firm, rising 0.5% quarter-on-quarter. Knight Frank expects overall rents to creep up by around 0.3% quarter-on-quarter in Q4, buoyed by improving business sentiment, rising rent expectations from landlords, and the addition of new office developments. Average rents in the CBD are likely to stay firm or notch up modest increases of 0.2 to 0.3% in Q4.

China's cabinet has detailed plans to speed construction of urban infrastructure projects in the latest move to boost domestic consumption by urbanization. The government will focus on projects ranging from underground sewage and household waste treatment to gas pipes and heating systems as well as public transport and power grid upgrades. The National Development and Reform Commission is expected to unveil an urbanisation plan in the second half of this year.

US markets rallied, bond yields dipped and the USD fell after Lawrence Summers withdrew his bid to be the next FED chairman and both America & Russia agreed on a plan to remove Syria's chemical weapons. Brent crude fell 2.4% to USD110pbl. US 10-yr bond yield slipped to 2.855%. Having reacted to news of Summers' withdrawal yesterday, the rally in Asian bourses are likely to pause in the next 2 sessions as investors await the outcome of the FOMC meeting and QE tapering possibility this Wednesday.

Source: DBSV