UK Frasers Property Ltd. plans to increase its Singapore property portfolio with more investments
After a four-year slump, Singapore’s property market is showing signs of rebound. Earlier, the city-state’s property was down, keeping property investors away, who were wary of investing in the state. However, there has been change in recent times which have seen the state’s property market getting back on track. It is now showing promising signs that the growth will continue, which has bolstered interest of international property and estate developers in the state’s property sector all over again. In one such latest development, the son of Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, has shown interest in the state’s land. This has sent further signals that the state’s real estate is on its way to recovery.
The company, Frasers Property Ltd., had purchased a residential site near the Singapore River in December for S$955.4 million ($727 million), which was a record on a per-square foot basis at a government sale. Chief Executive Officer Panote Sirivadhanabhakdi said his firm is still on the lookout for more land in the city. At a press conference last week, Sirivadhanabhakdi said that it is a big appetite that his company has taken on. The press conference was held to mark the company’s name-change from Frasers Centrepoint Ltd. to Frasers Property Ltd. He said that the developer will continue to see what it can participate in the bidding.
Singapore developers have been aggressively bidding for land as rising apartment sales and prices signal an end to a four-year downturn. Private residential prices rose for a second straight quarter in the three months ended Dec. 31. Still, the country’s central bank has warned that rising vacancies and slowing population growth may undermine a residential property recovery.
Sirivadhanabhakdi said that Singapore is still its home ground, Australia is its natural second base, Europe and Thailand continue to be strong. He said the Singapore-listed company’s “biggest task” for 2018 is to digest its recent growth as the firm has registered high growth and its assets have more than doubled in the past four years, driven by acquisitions from Australia to the U.K. and Germany. He added that he cannot say whether the company will be able to sustain it, but at least the group can be stronger when it comes together under the Frasers Property banner. Regarding the company’s strategy, he said that REITs have become a strategic vehicle with potential to expand.
Frasers’ shares have risen 2.9 percent this year, after surging 32 percent last year.
China previously accounted for as much as 30 percent of sales but this is unsustainable amid slowing economic growth Groundbreaking on One Bangkok will take place this year. The development is in the final stages of an approval process for environmental standards. The first phase will open late 2021 or early 2022.
