Hutchison Port Trust IPO

For Hutchison Port Holding's listing of the Trust, it seems that only
the 2 highlighted ports will be included in the trust. This is about
18M TEU (27.6%) out of its 65.3M TEU (based on 2009 data listed on its website).

Port / Business Unit

Throughput (thousands of TEU)

	Hong Kong and Yantian
	China - Yantian		8,579
	Hong Kong - Kwai Tsing		9,505
	Hong Kong - Tuen Mun		1,701
	The Mainland
	Shanghai		8,238
	Ningbo		1,773
	Pearl River Delta in Southern China - Jiuzhou, Gaolan, Nanhai, Jiangmen, Huizhou & Shantou		1,151
	Xiamen		930
	North and South Asia
	Malaysia		4,452
	South Korea		2,903
	Indonesia		2,296
	Thailand		1,102
	Pakistan		724
	Vietnam		N/A
	Australia		N/A
	Middle East and Africa
	Saudi Arabia		1,254
	Egypt		482
	Tanzania		327
	Oman		99
	Europe
	The Netherlands		7,871
	United Kingdom		3,534
	Spain		908
	Poland		149
	Italy		745
	Sweden		23
	The Americas and The Caribbean
	Panama		2,367
	The Bahamas		1,323
	Mexico		1,416
	Argentina		278

Singapore Budget 2011

Budget 2011 for Individiuals

1. CPF: Raise the employer contribution rate by another 0.5 percentage points, from 15.5%  to 16%, which will restore the total contribution rate to 36%. The additional 0.5% will go into the Special Account. Revise the CPF Salary Ceiling from $4,500 to $5,000 per month. To take effect in September 2011.
2. Income Tax Reduction for 2011: Personal income tax rebate of 20% for individual resident taxpayers for YA 2011. The rebate will be capped at $2,000
3. Income Tax Reduction for 2012 (see table 1) 
4. Growth Dividends (see table 2) by 1st May 2011
5. Household rebates (see table 3)
6. SRS: Raise the contribution cap within the Supplementary Retirement Scheme. 
7. Child Development Credit scheme ($300-$400) for all Singaporean children aged six and below. The Child Development Credit can be used to pay for their children’s preschool, childcare, and medical expenses. The Child Development Credit will be paid into the Children Development Accounts (CDAs), which most children already have.
8. Top-up each primary and secondary school student’s Edusave account by $130
9. Top-up CPF Medisave Accounts of Singaporeans aged 45 and above. Those aged 45 to 49 will receive up to $300, while those aged 50 to 59 will get a top-up of up to $400. Older Singaporeans will receive more, with those 80 and above getting up to $700
10. Remove radio ($27) and television ($110) licence fees permanently

Table 1

Table 2

 Table 3

Industries that will benefit from Budget 2011

1. Banks: Exempt all interest payments made by banks and similar financial institutions from withholding tax.
2. Maritime (shipping, ports, ship builders): Withholding tax exemption for interest payments on loans to build or buy ships. GST zero-rating for repair and maintenance services performed on ship parts and components.
3. Biomedical: GST relief for imported clinical trial materials, as well as enhance the Approved Contract Manufacturer and Trader Scheme
4. Commodities:  Enhance the Global Trader Programme to qualify all derivative trades under the scheme
5. Green Vehicles: Extend the Green Vehicle Rebate scheme for another year till 31 December 2012. In the meantime, we will undertake a comprehensive review on the measures to promote the adoption of green vehicles, as part of our overall efforts to promote sustainable development
6. IT and Machinery Suppliers: Allow businesses to deduct from their taxable income 400% of their expenditures in any of the six broad categories of investment under the scheme, for example, training or investment in automation equipment
7. Construction:  Spend $10 billion to upgrade homes and rejuvenate estates over the next 10 years
8. Specialised storage facilities that store high-value collectibles such as art and antiques: GST zero-rating for specified services supplied to overseas persons, if they are performed on goods kept in qualifying specialised warehouses and eventually sent overseas

Industries to look out

Some industries that are worth looking out for potential companies with great future:

1. Telco - The trend of channels providing retail shopping might change the way people buy and sell stuff
2. Battery - With mobility the norm, alot hinges on good battery to support the life of devices
3. High speed train providers - Time will come where high speed train will be the norm. With air security getting tighter and more inconvenient, the preferred mode of transportation might switch. 
1. Csr Corp Ltd. Previously China South Locomotive & Rolling Stock Corporation Limited.  world's largest manufacturer of electric locomotives. In 2002 the group manufactured the 270 km/h (170 mph) China Star high speed EMU
4. Ports - With global trade ever increasing, this is one big cash cow.

Property and M2

Ms Teh Hooi Ling published an article in the Business Times on 29th Jan 2011, titled "How money grows in Singapore". In the article, she compiled the GDP, M2 money supply and Property Index for Singapore.

M2 money supply includes currency in active circulation, demand deposits of private sector, fixed deposits, savings and other deposits.

From the chart, it seems that property index follows the GDP pretty closely, other than 1997 period where it was well known to have a property bubble which subsequently burst.

Of course, this may not be the cause and effect, but it does make sense that property pricing goes hand in hand with GDP, which goes hand in hand with M2. If this correlation is strong, then the existing property prices seems to be fair, and likely sustainable. 

BP resumes dividend payment

BP announced on 1st Feb 2011 that it will resume dividend payment for Q4 2010.

42cents per ADR to be given on 28th Mar 2011.

Although this is only exactly half of what it used to give before the oil leak crisis, it is nevertheless a good start. And with U.S$ depreciating, it is now cheaper to buy than before.

Link to BP's dividend history: http://www.bp.com/extendedgenericarticle.do?categoryId=9033054&contentId=7060587 (if the link does not work, traverse www.bp.com -> investors -> Shareholder Services -> ADS shareholders -> Dividend History)


Previous post on BP:

1. http://sgretailinvestor.blogspot.com/2010/05/bp-plc-adr.html
2. http://sgretailinvestor.blogspot.com/2010/06/bp-how-deep-is-deepwater-horizon-oil.html