Singapore

Singapore’s clean reputation gets a timely test

18 Jul 2023

Officials arrested a cabinet minister and a prominent hotel tycoon without saying why. Corruption cases are rare in Singapore. But as the hub becomes a favourite destination for the rich, the investigation is a useful opportunity to burnish its reputation for tough enforcement.

Temasek is betting on all its stars aligning

12 Jul 2023

Singapore’s state investor had a tricky year with its net value dropping 5.2% to $285 bln and the FTX debacle. Half its portfolio is in unlisted assets, so it’s relying on public markets picking up, Southeast Asia thriving and China recovering. Most of that is out of its hands.

Pricey property is a pointy dilemma for Singapore

28 Jun 2023

Rich foreign arrivals including family offices are an easy scapegoat for house prices bucking a global slump. But Asia’s safe haven needs to keep the public onside more than other hubs like Hong Kong as it vies for global capital. The stakes of keeping everyone happy are high.

Global airlines grasp at the 100% recovery

21 Jun 2023

Passengers are slowly taking back to the skies but remain reluctant to travel internationally. Singapore Airlines logged a record net profit but won’t say when it will return to pre-pandemic capacity. Rivals are more committed but whether they can deliver is up in the air.

Private equity hurtles towards hard Asia reset

7 Jun 2023

China is the area’s powerhouse, but funds are under pressure from investors to limit exposure to the People’s Republic. Sequoia splitting the country off from the rest of emerging Asia formalises a growing trend, but an industry pivot to politically safer shores may sap returns.

Olam’s Saudi-Singapore IPO is food for the future

31 May 2023

A $1 bln dual listing of its agri unit is delayed. A pause may help Saudi justify what it paid for a 35% stake. Yet the float will improve the company’s financial strength and its ability to shore up food security in the Gulf, so there’s good reason to get this complex deal done.

Singapore’s safe-haven success stirs its own drama

18 Apr 2023

It is booming as a wealth management centre and has a runway for growth: the hub books a fraction of the funds that Switzerland does. But winning the confidence of ultra-rich Asians comes with a unique set of problems. The Lion City can manage some of those better than others.

Temasek hospital deal channels its Dr Resilience

11 Apr 2023

The Singapore investor is taking control of India’s Manipal chain for $2 bln, doubling down as the Pai family trims. Private equity firm TPG is placing a second bet too. Growing and recession-resilient, Asian healthcare is emerging as a relatively attractive safe haven.

Saudi is far from the last Western bank bagholder

21 Mar 2023

Credit Suisse’s rescue by UBS will cost top shareholder Saudi National Bank over $1 bln. Abu Dhabi’s ADIA and Singapore’s GIC and Temasek also caught a falling knife after buying Western banks in 2007. Politics, and the Gulf’s growing oil riches, imply further loss-making punts.

Piyush Gupta shines his risk appetite with Adani

13 Feb 2023

The boss of $70 bln DBS, Singapore’s top lender, is one of the first major global bank bosses to speak out largely in favour of the troubled Indian industrialist. His typically candid comments put Gupta’s broader calculation of where Asia’s big opportunities lie into sharper focus.

Singapore looks boxed in with Li Ka-shing

9 Jan 2023

Co-investing with Hong Kong’s top tycoon once seemed like a no-brainer but sovereign fund Temasek may sell its 20% of CK Hutchison’s ports business. It owns a hefty slug of the company’s retail unit too. Geopolitics complicate any exit from these bold private investments.

Singapore withstands a global property downturn

3 Jan 2023

The Lion City’s housing prices are up 14% in a year, compared to declines in Hong Kong and other major cities. A pandemic-induced construction shortfall and increasing foreign demand are factors. Rising interest rates will cool, but not halt, Singapore’s real estate boom.

Hong Kong’s crypto push sets up race to bottom

22 Nov 2022

The Asian city reiterated its plan to allow retail access to regulated virtual assets, despite FTX’s blow-up and a sweeping ban in China. It’s not a big departure from what’s offered in the U.S. and Europe but a rivalry with Singapore to lure capital and talent could make things messy.

Piyush Gupta might be banking’s boldest boss

15 Nov 2022

Buying banking assets is complex at the best of times. Singapore’s $65 bln DBS added a geopolitical twist when it agreed to acquire Citi’s Taiwan consumer bank. As tensions rise, Gupta is holding his nerve on the deal due to close next year. Then again, he has little choice.

Wealth darling DBS channels Singapore’s success

3 Nov 2022

It wasn’t just rising interest rates that helped the $63 bln bank led by Piyush Gupta post record quarterly earnings. DBS also benefitted from the city-state’s borders reopening and boosting lending as high earners move to the finance hub. That augurs even more growth to come.

Brazil can buoy Sea’s growth ambitions

28 Oct 2022

The Singaporean games-to-payments group is exiting smaller countries and cutting costs to satisfy impatient investors. But it is making progress in the fast-growing Latin American market, where losses are narrowing. A $6.5 bln cash pile suggests Sea can stay the course.

Financial hubs’ neutrality is all at sea

11 Oct 2022

Switzerland and Singapore are taking the West’s side in the Ukraine war. Now fear is rising that Hong Kong will become a Russian stomping ground after an oligarch’s yacht docked there. That’s overdone, but the impartiality of rich centres is increasingly likely to create waves.

Singapore deal offers template for offloading coal

6 Sep 2022

Banks’ aversion to fossil fuels makes it hard for companies to sell dirty assets. So Temasek-backed Sembcorp is financing its own $1.5 bln Indian disposal with an interest rate that falls if emissions do and guaranteeing loans. It’s a more responsible way to get the job done.

Bankers hit the bottle for Asia deal inspiration

5 Jul 2022

Thai Beverage is spinning off its beers business in Singapore while the Manila-based owner of Whyte & Mackay whisky plans a secondary listing. Rising home consumption can be a comforting tipple amid global uncertainty. Well-priced boozy deals could crack open the wider market.

India’s energy-storage fix has virtue of speed

18 May 2022

As the West obsesses over building the perfect battery, Singapore- and Abu Dhabi-backed Greenko is launching the largest long-lasting renewable power-storage project. It’s a low-tech leap towards a greener energy system. Big customers like ArcelorMittal are lined up too.