ASCOTT RESIDENCE TRUST (ART), CapitaLand’s serviced residences property trust, will complete the largest securitisation transaction since the credit crunch if shareholders give their nod at the fast-tracked EGM on Sept 9.

Today’s announcement that CapitaLand’s wholly-owned The Ascott Limited will sell 28 of its serviced residence properties to ART for $969.6 million didn’t come as a surprise as the developer has always maintained it is committed to divesting its investment properties with stable yields into REITs.

ACCOLADES FOR GENTING Singapore’s maiden profit from Resorts World Sentosa came in thick and fast. Of the 13 analysts that reported on Genting’s 2Q10 results, 12 had Buy recommendations, with the most notable upgrade coming from Citi Research which switched from a Sell to a Buy and transferred coverage. The only Hold recommendation was from local house UOB KayHian which had upgraded the stock from a Sell to a Hold. It also mentioned the performance of Genting Singapore’s UK arm. “The UK’s underlying operations have slightly improved by 6% y-o-y from higher business volume, but this was dragged by the depreciation of Sterling pound against the Singapore dollar,” the report stated. 

A HUNGER OF bonds could be creating an opportunity for companies to reposition their balance sheets with more debt.

 

In the past week, the market has become excited by STATS ChipPAC’s plan for a capital reduction exercise that will result in a cash distribution of up to US$600 million ($811 million) to its shareholders. The exercise will be funded by an issue of US$600 million worth of five-year bonds. On Aug 5, the bonds were priced at 7.5% per annum. Bankers familiar with the bond issue, which was marketed in Singapore, Hong Kong and the US, say that demand was very good. The bookrunners for the issue are Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank.

DBS GROUP HOLDINGSS has been hit by another impairment charge related to its controversial purchase of Hong Kong’s Dao Heng Bank nine years ago. Singapore’s largest bank said today that it made a goodwill impairment charge of $1.02 billion in 2Q10, resulting in a net loss of $300 million for the quarter.