Keppel Land   

Kepland

    Agree with your observation, Singaporegal. Stochastic shows divergence from the recent upward price movement. Candlestick yesterday also gave out a reversal signal.

 

I see signs of potential trend reversal in the TA charts.

 

   Will KepLand's share price be affected on Monday?

 

Harrah's drops casino bid as too costly.



"Regrettably, we determined it would not be possible to deliver a development on the scale we envisioned while meeting our financial objectives for this project," Harrah's spokeswoman Jacqueline Peterson told Reuters.



The firm, which does not yet have a gambling license in Asia, the world's fastest-growing gaming market, said earlier this week that it was reviewing its Singapore bid after becoming the target of a buyout offer from two U.S. private equity firms.



But Peterson said the decision to pull out of the race was entirely unrelated to the surprise buyout offer.



Local media have reported that the third bidder, privately held Las Vegas casino developer Eighth Wonder, is trying to replace its partner Isle of Capri Casinos Inc. with Australia's Publishing & Broadcasting to run the casino.



Eighth Wonder founder and head Mark Advent declined to comment, but a source close to the company said Mississippi-based Isle of Capri remains an equity partner in the bid.

 

The consortium of Keppel Land and US-based Harrah's Entertainment, Inc said it has decided to drop out of the race to secure the second casino/resort project in Singapore.



"We determined it would not be possible to deliver a development on the scale we envisioned for Sentosa Island while meeting our objectives for this projects. Accordingly, we decided not to submit a response to the request for a proposal," their joint statement read.



This came after Harrah's received a US$15b buyout offer from two private US funds -- Apollo Management and Texas Pacific Group.



The number of contenders for the Sentosa project is now down to three - CapitaLand, in partnership with Kerzner International; Genting International's team-up with Star Cruises and Universal Studios; and Eighth Wonder Asia.

 

BFC Development Pte Ltd, the equally-owned JV of Keppel Land, Hong Kong Land and Cheung Kong Holdings, will spend about $2b  for the first phase of its development project covering a 3.55-hectare site at Marina Bay here. About $1.1b will be used in purchasing the land and another $0.9b will be spent on its development.



The development will boast of an office complex featuring two office towers -- one 32 and the other 46 stories high -- to be called the Marina Bay Financial Centre, and a 55-storey residential complex with 428 high-end units which will be called the Marina Bay Residences.



The residential component is to be launched before the end of the year while the office towers are expected to be completed by 2010.



Funding for the development will come from the cash reserves of each of the consortium members, Cheung Kong Holdings executive director Justin Chiu said.



In a statement, the consortium said the Marina Bay Financial Centre will help double Singapore's premium office space from 2010 to meet pent-up demand from major banks and global financial and professional services expanding their operations here.



BFC Development general manager David Martin said there is very strong interest for the projects.



"On the office (side), we are in discussions with a number of large occupiers in the market," he said. "On the residential (side), our agents have received a lot of pre-interest."



Hong Kong Land CEO Nicholas Sallnow-Smith said: "We're building as quickly as we can because the market is very good."

 

Credit Suisse said it has lifted its target price to $5.85 from $5.33 previously as it sees the property developer as "the best proxy" to the rising Singapore office market.



"Its NAV is the most sensitive to office rents -- triple that of City Developments. Given its dominance over the newer financial district, its properties are likely to benefit from premium rents, we believe," Credit Suisse said.



Keppel Land and its partners Cheung Kong Holdings and Hong Kong Land Holdings built Singapore's most modern building, One Raffles Quay, and the same group is developing the new Business and Finance Centre.



"It is (also) a play into the mid to high-end Singapore residential segment where we see most upside. We believe downside risks are limited for its China residential exposure, given that its projects are targeted at local and the middle- to upper-middle market segment where genuine demand remains healthy," Credit Suisse said.



"Keppel Land valuations at current levels remain attractive and we recommend a switch from City Developments to Keppel Land. We rate City Developments 'neutral' with an $11.20 target price," it added.

 

Citigroup reiterated on its "buy" call and raised its target price to $5.80. Citigroup said Keppel Land stands to benefit from higher office rental rates and strong demand for office space.

 

It has agreed to sell its stake in Singapore Suzhou Industrial Holdings Pte Ltd to Ascendas China Trustee Pte Ltd for $27m, dealers said.



The company expects to book a profit of $9.53m from the sale.



Following the sale, CIMB-GK said it has raised its 2006 earnings estimates by 3.4% amd its target price to $5.30.

 

UBS has upgraded its target price to $5.25 because of the upbeat prospects for the office property sector, with prime rents seen rising to $10 per square foot by 2008 from about $6 currently.



"We believe rents can surpass the 1996 peak, given the growth in the financial sector," UBS said in a note to clients.



Among property developers, Keppel Land has the potential to realize higher value for its office portfolio by injecting these assets into unit K-REIT Asia.



Keppel Land in partnership with Hong Kong Land and Cheung Kong Holdings is also in a position to capture future demand for office space as it is developing the new business and financial center in the Marina Bay area.



UBS said it expects demand for new office space to be around 1.30-1.50m square feet a year in the next three years but supply is limited to about 500,000 square feet a year.

 

Business Description:
Keppel Land Limited. The Group's principal activities are property trading, investment and development, and property-related services. Other activities include fund management, financial services, hotel and resort management, golf course ownership and operation and investment holding. The Group operates in Singapore, British Virgin Islands, Hong Kong, China, Indonesia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Netherlands, Guernsey and the United States of America

Exchanges: SIN
2005 Sales: 586,391,000
Currency: Singapore Dollars
Fiscal Year Ends: December
Share Type: Ordinary
Country: Singapore
Major Industry: Financial
Sub Industry: Land And Real Estate
Employees: 2,106
Market Capitalization: 2,625,612,930
Total Shares Outstanding: 717,380,582
Closely Held Shares: 454,466,192


http://www.remisiers.org/research//keppelLand-270706.pdf

 

A series of curbs on the China property market were announced in May with expectations of more to follow, as the government tries to curb speculation and cool down the market.



The impact on Kepland's earnings, in the mid-to-high-end segments where Kepland has presence in, for the next 2 years should be minimal, as most of its sales have been locked in from projects in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu as well as Bangalore. The outlook is more uncertain for future projects, but should be mitigated by high volume sales from townships for the mass market and diversification into other markets like India and Indonesia. There's also strong fundamentals from Singapore's office market.



DBSV's price target is revised downwards to $4.32.

 

Kepland has dropped quite a lot today. Anyone knows why?

From its charts, it looks like it just started one another downtrend.