Bizview: Today's top business news

Tigerair reports 162% jump in third-quarter profits to S$6.8 million

Falling fuel prices boosted profits at Tigerair which soared more than 162 per cent to S$6.8 million for the three months ended Dec 31. Operating profit increased to S$10 million from S$4.1 million a year ago. Turnover for the October-December quarter increased by 1.5 per cent to S$187.4 million while spending decreased by 1.8 per cent to S$177.3 million.

Ascendas Reit's Q3 DPU rose 9.9 per cent to 3.946 cents

Ascendas Real Estate Investment Trust (A-Reit) posted higher distributable income for the third quarter due to new properties acquired in Australia and Singapore. Distributable income for the three months ended Dec 31 last year grew 11.7 per cent to S$96.6 million compared with S$86.4 million in the same period a year earlier.

CapitaLand Mall Trust posts 0.7% rise in Q4 DPU to 2.88 cents

Shopping mall landlord CapitaLand Mall Trust (CMT) announced on Friday (Jan 22) a 0.7 per cent increase in its distribution per unit (DPU) to 2.88 Singapore cents for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, from 2.86 cents for the year-ago period.

Vacancy rate of private homes hit 10-year high of 8.1%: URA data

The private home vacancy rate rose 0.3 percentage points to 8.1 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year, marking the highest vacancy rate recorded since 8.4 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2005. This represents about 26,517 vacant private homes, up from 25,169 in the third quarter.

Private home prices fall at slower pace of 3.7% in 2015: URA final data

Private home prices fell at a slower pace last year compared with 2014, according to Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) data on Friday (Jan 22). Prices fell 0.5 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year, taking the full year decline to 3.7 per cent, compared with a 4.0 per cent price decline in 2014.

Singapore dollar facing record 4th annual decline prompts local selling

Nirgunan Tiruchelvam, an equities analyst at Religare Capital Markets in Singapore, says he's been reducing his exposure to the local dollar by boosting investments in the US currency since the middle of last year. The timing couldn't have been much better.

Ringgit rallies to 3-month high on oil rebound

Malaysia's ringgit rallied the most in three months as a rebound in Brent crude boosted sentiment following a global selloff in stocks due to slowing growth in China. Brent crude has rebounded almost 7 per cent in two days from its lowest level since 2003, improving the outlook for Asia's only major oil exporter.

AIIB may lend US$2 billion, announce projects in June: Jin Liqun

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank President Jin Liqun said the new China-led institution is planning to lend at least US$2 billion (S$2.8 billion) to different projects in 2016 and may announce the first batch of investments around June.

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