SG Morning Highlights | GuocoLand's H1 profit down 13% to S$59m on absence of disposal gain

Advancers / Decliners is 79 to 49, with 51.92 million securities worth S$69.49 million changing hands.

The regulatory uncertainty caused by years of Chinese government crackdowns on the country's technology giants has started to clear, potentially easing the way for wary investors, says the chief investment officer of Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, GIC.

Jeffrey Jaensubhakij said on a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos: "So in Chinese tech – Big Tech – that picture has become clearer."

Referring to recent comments by the Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He, Jaensubhakij said: "Part of what Liu was saying yesterday is that they've kind of solved all of that now."

To encourage the sustainability efforts of Singapore's small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), Budget 2023 could provide funding for the hiring of sustainability officers, suggested panellists at a pre-Budget roundtable on Thursday (Jan 19).

Organised by the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants (Isca), the panel was co-chaired by Members of Parliament Liang Eng Hwa and Don Wee. Liang, who chairs the government parliamentary committee for finance, trade and industry, noted existing government moves to encourage sustainability, such as the carbon tax and the Enterprise Sustainability Programme.

However, Singapore Manufacturing Federation president Lennon Tan said a "shock" to the sustainability ecosystem here was necessary to get SMEs going. Citing the appointment of Singapore's first government chief sustainability officer this year, Tan said it was "timely" for SMEs to consider having sustainability officers too.

Higher interest expense for the period resulted in a 27.8 per cent rise in finance costs for the Reit, its manager said in a regulatory filing on Friday (Jan 20).

Gross revenue was up 16.9 per cent to S$223.7 million for the half-year period, from S$191.3 million a year ago. Net property income grew 14.7 per cent to S$162.8 million from S$142 million in H2 FY2021.

Excluding the disposal gain, the company saw its net profit rise 11 per cent, from S$53.2 million to S$59 million, on the back of a strong property market and a revival of tourism. This lifted revenue 46 per cent in H1 to S$661.6 million.

The company's property development business posted a 45 per cent increase in revenue to S$550.4 million, thanks to higher progressive recognition of sales from its residential projects in Singapore.

The trust was required to top up its reserve account with Luso Bank within five working days from the effective date of the facility, Dasin disclosed in a Thursday (Jan 19) bourse filing.

"The trust was unable to do so due to technical issues relating to the securing of approval from a China onshore lender/security agent for the remittance of funds from the trust's onshore RMB account," it said.

The turnaround is due to an increase in the company's revenue derived from theme park operations, following the easing of pandemic restrictions by the Malaysian government.

Another factor is the cooperation fee income from Sim Leisure Gulf Contracting, arising from the cooperation agreement entered between the company's 60 per cent-owned subsidiary, Sim Leisure Creative, and SL Gulf.