15/07/2025

BIZ & FINANCE TUESDAY | JULY 15, 2025

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NTT DC REIT makes tepid stock market debut

Singapore averts recession in second quarter

SINGAPORE: Singapore averted a recession in the second quarter, official data showed yesterday, but the government warned of “significant uncertainty” ahead owing to the effects of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs. Preliminary estimates from the Trade Ministry show that the economy grew 4.3% year-on-year in the three months to June, extending the 4.1% expansion in the first quarter. It grew 1.4% quarter-on-quarter, swinging back from after shrinking 0.5% in the first three months of the year. The reading means the city-state avoided a technical recession, defined as two successive quarters of contraction. The key manufacturing sector expanded 5.5% on-year during the quarter, picking up from 4.4% in the previous three months as businesses rushed to beat the imposition of higher US tariffs. Manufacturing covers Singapore’s key semiconductor exports. Nevertheless, the government offered a note of caution for the rest of the year. “Looking forward, there remains significant uncertainty and downside risks in the global economy in the second half of 2025 given the lack of clarity over the tariff policies of the US,” the Trade Ministry said in a statement. While Trump imposed a baseline 10% tariff on Singapore, the city-state is vulnerable to a global economic slowdown caused by the much higher levies on dozens of other countries because of its heavy reliance on international trade. In the latest move, Trump threatened 30% duties on the European Union, a key Singapore market, if no agreement is reached by Aug 1. The government said it expected the economy to grow 0%-2% this year, a downgrade from its previous growth forecast of between 1% and 3%. – AFP NEW DELHI: India’s Ola Electric yesterday forecast improved gross margins for fiscal 2026 after posting a narrower sequential loss for the first quarter, helped by stronger sales of its newer, more cost-efficient scooter models. Shares of the company, which listed in August last year, jumped over 14% after the results and were on track to snap a five-session losing streak. The Bengaluru-based firm’s June quarter loss of 4.28 billion rupees (RM212 million) was narrower than the 8.7 billion rupees in the previous quarter. The SoftBank-backed firm said it expects gross margins to rise to 35% to 40% in the current fiscal year, up from 20.5% last year, and projected revenue between 42 billion and 47 billion rupees, compared to 46.65 billion rupees in fiscal 2025. The company added that it has developed rare earth-free motors, which are set to be deployed starting the December quarter. Ola said it accelerated the programme in April following global rare earth supply cuts. China’s curbs on rare-earth exports have disrupted the global auto industry, with companies warning of a severe supply crunch. Rare-earth magnets are used are used in the motors that power electric scooters. – Reuters India’s Ola Electric forecasts margins improvement

SINGAPORE: Singapore’s NTT DC REIT , a data centre real estate investment trust, had a lacklustre market debut yesterday after riding a wave of AI interest to raise US$773 million in the city-state’s biggest IPO in four years. NTT DC REIT shares ticked higher to US$1.03 in the first 30 minutes of trade on the Singapore Exchange, versus their US$1.00 per unit offer price. The benchmark stock index was up 0.4%. NTT DC REIT, whose primary backer NTT Ltd is part of Japanese telecommunication giant Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp, has six data centres in Austria, Singapore and the United States, valued at US$1.6 billion. o Data centre trust’s listing is Singapore’s biggest IPO in four years

global head of equity capital markets at DBS. “This marks the first time we have such a pipeline within a 12-month horizon and these IPOs could raise anywhere between S$600 million (RM1.9 billion) to around a billion.” Beyond REITs, Hong Kong-listed China Medical System (CMS) in set to debut a secondary listing on the SGX today. “We believe that upon completion of the proposed secondary listing on the SGX, CMS will be able to attract funds focusing on Asia-Pacific investments and local capital in Southeast Asia, thereby optimising the shareholder structure,” CMS told Reuters. Other firms seeking to list in Singapore include Foundation Healthcare as well as Centurion which plans to list an employee dormitory REIT. Singapore’s growing IPO market comes against a backdrop of a strong stock market where the benchmark index has risen more than 8% this year and set all-time highs in the past nine trading sessions, LSEG data showed. – Reuters

Its cornerstone investors include Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC with a 9.8% stake – the second-largest investor after NTT Ltd with 25%. The listing underscores global investors’ growing appetite for data centres in the Asia-Pacific region driven by high growth potential and strong demand for artificial intelligence services. NTT DC REIT’s IPO was Singapore’s biggest since the US$977 million IPO of Digital Core REIT in 2021, LSEG data showed. It was also Southeast Asia’s biggest IPO since the US$942.9 million IPO of Thai Life Insurance in 2022. The Singapore Exchange has seen growing interest from listing hopefuls since announcing measures in February to strengthen its equities market, including a 20% tax rebate for primary listings. “There is a broad base of potential REIT IPOs on the horizon, including data centre, industrial, logistics, hospitality, commercial and retail assets,” said Art Karoonyavanich,

An SGX sign outside the Singapore Stock Exchange. – REUTERSPIC

EU, Indonesia reach ‘political agreement’ on trade deal BRUSSELS: EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto on Sunday announced a “political agreement” to conclude a long-awaited free trade deal, as US leader Donald Trump upends global commerce. “We’re living in turbulent times and when economic uncertainty meets geopolitical volatility, partners like us must come closer together. So today we’re taking a big step forward in this partnership,” von der Leyen told journalists in Brussels. towards striking the deal – which is to be concluded in September by EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic and Indonesia’s Chief Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto. “There’s a lot of untapped potential in our trade relationship. And therefore this agreement comes at the right time, because the new agreement will open new markets,” von der Leyen said. “It will create more opportunities in key industries, in business activity and agriculture, in automotive and in services.” Prabowo called the announcement in Brussels a “breakthrough”. “After 10 years of negotiations, we have concluded the agreement to have a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, which basically is a free trade agreement.” The president said “we consider Europe still a very important factor, and we would like to see a very strong Europe”.

But he insisted that “the United States will be always a very important leader in the world”. The European Union is Indonesia’s fifth-largest trading partner with bilateral trade between them reaching US$30.1 billion last year. Ties had been frayed by a proposed EU import ban on products linked to deforestation that has angered Indonesia because it is a major palm oil exporter. That legislation has been delayed to the end of this year. – AFP

Brussels has stepped up efforts to improve ties with key potential partners around the world as Trump threatens a trade war with sweeping tariffs. “This big and important political agreement on the free trade agreement with Indonesia is today a huge milestone forward, and shows that we’re looking for new markets, open markets,” von der Leyen said.

“I am very pleased to report that we have just reached a political agreement on an ambitious Free Trade Agreement.” The 27-nation European bloc and Southeast Asia’s largest economy have been negotiating since 2016 to agree a deal that is expected to increase trade and investment. A European Commission statement called Sunday’s agreement a “decisive milestone”