News

Changi Airport jacks up fees, introduces new service charges

Passengers who depart from the airport to take their connecting flights will have to pay a Passenger Service Charge (PSC) or Passenger Security Service Charge (PSSC) of S$9.00 and S$3.00, respectively, starting April 2011.

Changi Airport jacks up fees, introduces new service charges

Passengers who depart from the airport to take their connecting flights will have to pay a Passenger Service Charge (PSC) or Passenger Security Service Charge (PSSC) of S$9.00 and S$3.00, respectively, starting April 2011.

DBS on Tiger Airways' profit jump: good performance but you need a strong finish

The carrier’s revenues for 2Q11 might have risen by 35% yoy, but the bank says the figure could have been higher.

Singapore at the forefront of smart energy economy

Experts urge Singapore to keep open to nuclear energy as policy uncertainties worldwide cast doubt on the pace of energy investments.

Decline in manufacturing activity temporary but rapid growth unlikely

That headline manufacturing PMI for October rose to the “expansion” level of 50.7 and electronics PMI rose by 0.8 pts to 49.3 might be news to celebrate about, but we should not get too excited about the numbers.

The Tiger's turnaround: Tiger Airways posts $14.1m profit for Q2

The budget airline’s revenue for the quarter is a $16.4 million improvement over the $2.3 million loss recorded a year ago. The improvement in Tiger's books can be attributed to higher turnovers, strong passenger growth and strict control of unit costs. Growth in passenger volume outstripped seat capacity growth of 21.9%, while the  total Cost per Available Seat Kilometre (CASK) went down 3.1% compared to the previous year. Tony Davis, President and Group CEO, said: “We are pleased with the second quarter results posted by the Group. Achieving a 10% net profit margin, 35% revenue growth and lower unit costs, on significant capacity growth of 22% is a solid result. “Forward bookings remain strong, particularly for the peak travel period between December and February. To capitalise on this peak period, Tiger Airways Australia is increasing its fleet to 12 aircraft by the financial year-end. “The airlines continue to focus on maximising profitability through the generation of additional ancillary revenue streams. In percentage terms, Tiger Airways is currently the fifth highest generator of ancillary revenue globally, and our aim is to be in the world’s top three airlines. During the quarter, we introduced two new ancillary products – boardmefirstTM, our priority boarding service, and our new flexible ticket option. Both products have been popular with our passengers. In addition, we have recently introduced Stripes, a membership programme that provides members priority access to promotions and the lowest fares. “We continue to work with Thai Airways on the establishment of our low cost business in Thailand, to be called Thai Tiger. “Finally, we are pleased to have recently won two awards; the Low Cost Airline of the Year award from the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, and the Most Transparent Award in the New Issues Category from the Securities Investors Association of Singapore” said Tony Davis.

SGX posts 17-month trading high, named “Derivatives Exchange of the Year”

Apart from receiving the award from Asia Risk magazine, the exchange also announced that its October SDAV reached $2.1 billion, the highest since May 2009.

DBS Bank's "A" rating now for good

 Fitch Ratings has assigned a final rating of 'A' to the bank's dollar Non-Cumulative Non-Convertible Non-Voting Preference Shares Callable in 2020. This follows the completion of the issuance of the Preference Shares and the receipt of documents conforming to information previously received. The final rating is the same as the expected rating assigned on 14 October 2010.

Salaries in Vietnam to rise higher than Singapore's in 2011

While Singapore employees can expect a salary increase by 4% next year, a predicted 2.4% inflation rate will pull down the actual wage increase to just 1.6%.

New STI Dividend Index to capture dividend returns of constituents

New index enables investors to view the expected dividends of its constituents and to create fresh investment opportunities.

Keppel sells 90% of 220 units in Tianjin Eco-City

The eco-development is expected to yield 5,000 homes and commercial developments with a total gross floor area of 680,000 sm.

Quantity vs. quality: Employers hiring more but are short of qualified candidates

Job placements in Singapore rose by 5.2% in Q310 compared to Q2 but shortage in talent across various fields are driving companies to look for employees overseas.

Sought after service: Service sector spurs Singapore economy growth

Despite an unemployment rate of 2.1% in 3Q10, the services sector was able to generate a total of 24,100 new jobs as compared to a loss of about 400 jobs in the manufacturing sector.

Success of SGX-ASX deal yet to be seen

Recent changes in the Australian market and differences in legal and regulatory regimes between Australia and Singapore pose execution challenges for the two exchange companies.

OCBC nine months' profit up 20% to S$1.75bln

OCBC’s revenue momentum remains strong behind loan growth, robust fee revenues, and healthy contributions from Great Eastern and Bank of Singapore.

Singapore Airlines inaugurates Tokyo Haneda services

SIA’s operations to Narita and Haneda airports bring in a total of 47 weekly flights to and from Japan.

CapitaLand first nine months profit up 349% to S$751mln

Higher development profits and divestment gains drove almost four-fold growth.

SingPost second quarter profit down 2.5% to S$39.5mln

The Group’s total expenses up 10.3% to S$104.1mln even as its revenue surged 5.6% to S$137.6mln.