17 months performance of the above portfolio for Ramjade

Original cost @20/5/2019 =  S$70,793.14

1 month @ 19/6/2019 = S$72,774.43  +S$1,981.29 or +2.8%
2 month @ 19/7/2019 = S$74,903.73  +S$4,110.59 or +5.8%
3 month @ 19/8/2019 = S$71,074.40  +S$281.26 or +0.4%
4 month @ 19/9/2019 = S$71,681.45  +S$888.31 or +1.2%
5 month @ 19/10/2019 = S$71,085.12  +S$291.98 or +0.41%
6 month @ 19/11/2019 = S$72,168.10  +S$1374.96 or +1.9%
7 month @ 19/12/2019 = S$72,125.79  +S$1332.65 or +1.9%
8 month @ 19/1/2020 = S$75,627.81  +S$4834.67 or +6.8%
9 month @ 19/2/2020 = S$76,981.88  +S$6188.74 or +8.74%
10 month @ 19/3/2020 = S$53,821.65  -S$16971.49 or -23.97%
11 month @ 19/4/2020 = S$63,627.88  -S$7165.26 or -10.12%
12 month @ 19/5/2020 = S$64,439.44  -S$6353.70 or -8.97%
13 month @ 19/6/2020 = S$69,067.12  -S$1726.02  or  -2.44%
14 month @ 19/7/2020 = S$70,452.49  -S$340.65  or  -0.5%
15 month @ 19/8/2020 = S$71,340.13  +546.99 or +0.8%
16 month @ 19/9/2020 = S$72,592.63  +1799.49 or +2.5%
17 month @ 20/10/2020 = S$73,089.80  +2296.66 or +3.2%

Portfolio continues to recover for the 3rd month.

3rd wave of Covid-19 is here for the whole world. Yet the stock market does not reflect it, but go opposite way 

KDC growing like a tech stock! 

More growth coming in 1H 2021 

Keppel DC Reit  still can buy now? for medium term?

Thank you so much for the above, appreciate it. Yes, it is for medium term, that attract me is what u said, the consistently positive working capital.

And thanks for the suggestion on SATS

Anybody buying or has CICT (capitaland Integrated Commercial Trust)? Thinking of getting some

Thanks. I missed out on CMT and Ascendas Reit recently as thought it would go lower but instead it went up. Couldn't go for other reits as they are way higher than what I sold for a few months back. So, only reit available is CICT as dividend quite attractive and CMT before that did drop a lot. Will keep on monitoring and see how.

Actually I want to invest and not trade. But got swayed and sold off most of my reit. Most of the Singapore reits that I sold off I did not buy back as the price is much higher than my selling price. Even the reits I bought back was higher priced than what I sold off. Eg: Ireit global --actually it was still profitable after I bought back until they wanted to issue additional shares--now reit is under water.

Anyway, bought some CICT today. Hopefully dividend yield is good (CMT used to give very good div) and price will be around the same or higher.

Government & Economy
BT EXCLUSIVE; Singapore hits pause on building new data centres; short-term rents up
Rae Wee

9 November 2020
Business Times Singapore
STBT
English
© 2020 Singapore Press Holdings Limited
Sustainability is behind the moratorium; Republic has about 60 data centres guzzling electricity

Singapore

SINGAPORE authorities have nudged data centre players to stop building new ones on this land-scarce island, triggering a rise in short-term rental rates.

A moratorium on constructing new data centres was "implicitly imposed" since early last year during a closed-door session with government agencies and industry players, The Business Times understands.

The regulatory nudge was done so that the government could find a more sustainable way to support the growth of the multibillion-dollar data centre market.

The government is aiming to keep the business growing at a steady pace while ensuring that data centres become more energy efficient.

It remains unclear when the moratorium will be lifted, although some speculate it could end in 2021. With rising demand for storing this "new oil" in the digital economy, short-term rental rates are climbing.

In response to BT's queries, the Economic Development Board, Infocomm Media Development Authority and JTC Corporation said in a joint statement that the government has been "working with the industry to grow the vibrancy of, and expertise in Singapore's tech ecosystem". This includes working on the sustainable growth of data centres in Singapore and conducting regular reviews of data centre-related policies.

According to data storage player Iron Mountain, Singapore has about 60 data centres here guzzling electricity.

This pause on new data centres has interrupted business expansion plans for data centre players. Last January, Australian data centre operator NEXTDC had plans to expand its presence to the Asian market, starting with Singapore. It was keen on purchasing a plot of land to build its first data centre out of Australia.

But the land owner's application to JTC for the lease transfer had been pending approval for a long period of time. Matt Howard, chief operating officer of NEXTDC, later found out that JTC had temporarily stopped processing such applications due to a moratorium.

Speaking to BT, Mr Howard said he understands that there are also "a number" of other operators who are on the waitlist.

Tom Duncan, executive director for data centre solutions at CBRE Asia-Pacific, said that the impact of the moratorium on new co-location supply is "felt keenly in the market, as there is limited capacity to meet the strong demand for take-up".

Rental rates at data centre spaces based on cost per kilowatt (kW) have risen about 30 per cent year-on-year, with much of that gain coming over the past six months, said Tricia Song, head of research at Colliers International Singapore.

CBRE's Mr Duncan said that as at September, co-location rates for customers with large load requirements of about one megawatt (MW) have increased up to 18 per cent year-on-year. He added that co-location vacancy has dropped sharply from 33 per cent in 2016, to 8 per cent as at Q2 2020.

A CBRE survey also found that 30 per cent of investors in the Asia-Pacific are considering purchasing data centres this year, compared to 18 per cent recorded in 2019.

The extent to which data centre operators will benefit from this supply crunch depends on some factors. One is who the data centres serve. Rates will rise more for retail data centre operators than wholesalers.

Wholesalers typically serve very large customers, such as AWS and Azure, and offer long leases of up to 10 years or even more. Retail customers have shorter leases of about three to five years.

Lynus Pook, director of the logistics, industrial and data centre advisory group at Cushman & Wakefield, said such customers will "feel the pinch" when their lease terms are up.

This is especially so given the difficulty in relocating. Data centres are a "very sticky" market, he said, adding that there are not many available spaces left even if customers do wish to relocate.

Clement Goh, chief executive for South-east Asia at ST Telemedia Global Data Centres, said the current scenario does not translate into "inflated" data centre rates though. He said his company works with "global customers across multiple markets", and that it views "customer relationships as long-term partnerships".

Rangu Salgame, chief executive and chairman of Princeton Digital Group, agreed that the relationship between vendors and customers is a "much more long-term game" and that the industry "does not generally exploit short term gains".

Locally listed real estate investment trusts (Reits) with data-centre operations, such as Keppel DC Reit (KDC Reit), Mapletree Industrial Trust (MIT) and Ascendas Reit will not see a big boost in the near term, according to DBS Group Research analyst Dale Lai. This is because the three have "only a very small proportion of leases expiring in the coming quarters", Mr Lai said. "The Reits will only enjoy higher revenues when these leases come due for renewal."

As at Sept 30, the weighted average lease expiry of KDC Reit's portfolio stood at 7.2 years.

Mr Lai said it is also important to differentiate co-location and fully-fitted data centres, from "shell and core" data centres. The co-location and fully-fitted data centres would benefit the most as the landlord also acts as the operator of the facility. This gives it stronger pricing power.

Shell and core data centres, on the other hand, are typically managed by the tenants, he said. As such, the rental rates a landlord can charge would be less impacted by the current rents for data centres.

KDC Reit, a pure-play data centre operator, has a mix of all three types of leases in its portfolio. MIT has fully-fitted leases as well as shell and core leases. Ascendas Reit's data centre portfolio consists largely of shell and core leases.

Whatever the case, rents are likely to stay elevated for a while, since the asset class is nascent and requires highly specialised knowledge and expertise, said Colliers Mr Song.

Cushman & Wakefield's Mr Pook said given that the supply of data centres in Singapore is "very tight", rates are likely to rise. Rents could head north by at least 10 to 15 per cent in 2021, with more increases expected in 2022 and 2023.

Singapore Press Holdings Limited

RAE WEE , How Singapore can break out of land scarcity in data centre space

10 November 2020
Business Times Singapore
STBT
English
© 2020 Singapore Press Holdings Limited

Singapore

SINGAPORE is naturally constrained by its size against other large data-centre markets in the region. But what it lacks in size, it hopes to make up for in green innovation.

The heat literally is on, with analysts saying that Singapore might lose out should it not meet its goal of becoming more energy efficient.

With the pause on approvals of new data centres as reported by The Business Times on Monday, environmental experts said, there are some renewable technology solutions to explore.

Tan Seng Chuan, managing director of Tembusu Asia Consulting, said that operators could consider using technology to raise the efficiency and operating temperatures of data centre facilities.

The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers recommends a wide range for server inlet temperatures, from 18 to 27 degrees Celsius.

Mr Tan added that operators could also deploy artificial intelligence to analyse data such as humidity temperature to reduce total energy consumption.

Peter Bull, principal of Arup, a planning, design and engineering consultancy, said that green data centres will also require an entirely different energy system from that of Singapore's, which will be "almost entirely reliant on liquefied natural gas for the next 20 years".

Hydrogen-powered data centres that use green hydrogen imported from areas with "abundant renewables" such as Australia could be an alternative, though they can be pricey.

To hasten the greening of Singapore's data centres, more investment will also be needed to develop sustainable fuel import and grid infrastructure, Mr Bull added.

The data centre market is already seeing strong growth and keen investor interest. Hence, drawing funding is unlikely to be a problem for most players, said Ravi Krishnaswamy, senior vice-president of energy, sustainability and industrial at Frost & Sullivan Asia-Pacific.

He added that data centre operators can agree to buy 100 per cent renewable energy from local renewable developers or retailers, while the "more ambitious ones with long-term sustainability targets" can also explore importing renewable energy from other countries.

The purchase of renewable-energy certificates (RECs) could be another option. An REC is a proof of electricity generated by renewable energy sources, and is issued for each megawatt-hour of renewable electricity generated.

Mr Krishnaswamy is hopeful that the country can support the growth of the data centre market in a sustainable manner.

"Regulations and policies in Singapore have always been known to very quickly adapt to changing market conditions, and in many ways lead the change. Sustainability guidelines for data centres will not be an exception."

CapitaLand, SP Group and Sembcorp Industries earlier this month said they have signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly study the use of integrated energy solutions to power data centres.

Joshua Au, leader of the Singapore chapter at Infrastructure Masons, a data-centre industry group, said that most players have to also serve multinational corporations present in multiple markets. Given the large number of submarine cables in Singapore, the country is a transactional hub that is vital in a pan-Asian strategy.

Yet, he has some reservations on the growth potential of Singapore as a standalone market.

"Singapore (faces) a real-estate crunch, which means land is scarce and expensive, and options for expansion and siting for renewable energy power sources (are) very limited," he said.

This is on top of competition faced from other cities such as that of Hong Kong, Sydney and Tokyo. These locations have specific roles to play, noted Lynus Pook, director of the logistics, industrial and data centre advisory group at Cushman & Wakefield. Japan, for example, is seen as a gateway to north Asia (excluding China).

"Whether the moratorium is in place (or not), co-location or cloud operators will still build their data centres in emerging (cities) like Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur because the operators need to bring data centres closer to end-users in order to enhance the users' experience," said Mr Pook.

"It is inadvertent that Singapore will lose out on certain customers."

Arup's Mr Bull added that should Singapore "fall short" on delivering sustainable data centres, growth of the sector will be lower than it otherwise could be. This, in turn, makes Singapore a less attractive location from which to operate for data centre developers.

All that said, Singapore is still a strong magnet for investments, despite the moratorium in place.

Bob Tan, senior director of alternatives, capital markets at JLL Asia-Pacific, attributes this to the strong foundation of a stable political environment, robust network connectivity, and "world-class infrastructure". Singapore is "one of the most conducive and connected data centre markets globally" for investors and operators alike, he noted.

Tan Boon Leong, executive director for capital markets (industrial) at Knight Frank Singapore, said that geopolitical factors such as the US-China tensions have also "caused companies to look towards Singapore". He said these tensions have brought foreign tech companies such as Tencent, ByteDance and Amazon to Singapore to set up bases for their regional centres.

Singapore can also tap into the broader regional growth expected in the data centre market. Roughly 60 per cent of people in Asean are under the age of 35. Cushman & Wakefield said last year that the South-east Asia region will be the fastest-growing region for co-location data centres over the next five years, expanding by a compound annual growth rate of 13 per cent between 2019 and 2024.

With the market becoming increasingly crowded, players will soon have to capture new opportunities to keep investments flowing in.

Infrastructure Masons' Mr Au said: "The one thing that data centre companies want to avoid is feature parity, where every operator fulfils your needs and the only differentiator is price."

He added: "It is incumbent on each operator to have an effective strategy to hold on to their market share, be it through superior connectivity and market presence in strategic places, privileged relationships with customers and governments, or other means."

Singapore Press Holdings Limited

keppel dc reit down 7%, OUCH OUCH!!!

Why is Parkwaylife reit dropping today? It will only go ex-dividend tomorrow