Winning the hunt for yield

It’s been a busy week for investors in Singapore trying to make their savings work harder. 

A sharp rise in demand for the 6-month Singapore T-bill led to a decline in the cut-off yield to 3.85% in the latest auction.

There was also much excitement after GXS Bank opened up the GXS savings account to all eligible individuals in Singapore and dangled an interest rate of 3.48% p.a.

In the meantime, Singapore REITs had mixed fortunes ahead of the start of results reporting season and Federal Reserve meeting next week. 

With the 1-year T-bill auction coming up on 27^th June, we evaluate whether it might be a better option compared to the 6-month T-bill and savings accounts. 

🏘 MIXED FORTUNE FOR REITS

What happened? 

Singapore REITs saw mixed performance ahead of the US Federal Reserve meeting next week, where the benchmark interest rate is widely expected to be raised by 0.25%. 

What does this mean?

Manulife US REIT’s share price fell after it reported a decline in the valuation of its portfolio. With the lowered valuations, MUST’s aggregate leverage will be around 57%, above the regulatory limit of 50%.

Other Singapore REITs with US office assets declined sharply on renewed concerns about exposure to the US commercial real estate sector, with Keppel Pacific Oak US REIT leading the losses with a 13% fall.

On the other hand, Digital Core REIT’s share price surged by 17% after a broker shared that the final bids for Cyxtera, the REIT’s second largest customer which had filed for a Chapter 11 filing earlier, were due to be submitted by July 19.

Why should I care? 

With the divergence in Singapore REITs' operational performance and varying impact from higher borrowing costs, it is important to analyse each REIT before we invest in them.  

Choose the best Singapore REIT for your portfolio using our REITs tool. 

🚗 WHAT'S MOVING

• Tesla (TSLA) reported lower than expected earnings as operating margins fell to the lowest level in at least five quarters with recent price cuts. 
• Netflix (NFLX) disappointed on its revenue guidance for the third quarter, as the revenue contribution from its advertising tier and password crackdown failed to meet expectations.
• Grab (GRAB) will acquire Trans-cab, Singapore’s third largest taxi operator with a fleet of more than 2,500 vehicles. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2023, subject to regulatory approvals. 
• Singapore Airlines' passenger load factor (PLF) reached a monthly record of 90.6% in June, due to “robust demand” for air travel on the back of the mid-year school holidays and the beginning of the summer travel season. 
• Sabana Industrial REIT reported a distribution per unit (DPU) of 1.61 cents for the first half of 2023, 1.3% higher than the previous year. The REIT achieved record rental reversions of 20.1% in the first half, and overall portfolio occupancy reached a multi-year higher of 93.9% as at 30 June.

Source: Bloomberg, CNBC, Financial Times, Business Times, Edge Singapore

💡 THE BIG IMPORTANT STORY

 1-year vs 6-month T-bill vs savings account: Which is better?

The next 1-year T-bill auction will be on 27^th July 2023. 

🤓 WHAT WE’RE LOOKING OUT FOR THIS WEEK

• Monday, 24 July: Keppel DC REIT earnings
• Tuesday, 25 July: Mapletree Logistics Trust, Frasers Centrepoint Trust earnings 
• Wednesday, 26 July: Mapletree Industrial Trust, Suntec REIT earnings
• Thursday, 27 July: UOB, Keppel Corp, Singapore Airlines, Digital Core REIT earnings, US FOMC meeting
• Friday, 28 July: CDL Hospitality Trusts, Seatrium earnings

Source: Bloomberg, SGX