SINGAPORE (Jan 3): Second Chance Properties said the collective sale of units at Sim Lim Square and City Plaza is still ongoing given the last dates to sign the collective sale agreements are March 8 and Aug 23 respectively.
The company was responding to several queries raised by the Securities Investors Association (Singapore) in relation to its annual report for the FY ended Aug 31 2018.
Second Chance Properties reports 90% lower 1Q19 earnings
Second Chance also revealed that as at Dec 17 2018, owners holding 58.55% of share value of Sim Lim have agreed to the sale while as at Dec 22 2018 owners holding 22.43% of share value at City Plaza have agreed to sale.
Under Singapore’s strata title laws, owners holding more than 80% of the share value of each property must agree to the sale for it to go through.
When asked by SIAS about the management’s strategy to maintain or increase the group’s rental income from its properties, Second Chance said the rental market is facing tremendous downward pressure.
“Rental depends on demand and supply and as such management can apply only limited strategies to maintain/increase rental income ... one of which is engaging multiple brokers to market our properties and increase their commission. If required, the management can also consider lowering rent in some cases instead of keeping any unit vacant,” says the company.
As for the group’s apparel business, Second Chance said it will continue to operate its apparel business as long as returns are reasonable and worthwhile, even though the operations has been streamlined to just a single flagship First Lady store in Malaysia, as SIAS had pointed out.
Among the other responses, Second Chance also confirmed that the group has an internal limit of 35% of its net tangibles asset that can be invested in securities, subject to annual review by the board.
As part of its risk management safeguards for securities investments, the management of Second Chance demands that market capitalisation of the stock on date of purchase must be not less than $500 million; the company must have paid dividends for the past five years and the stock must have at least three “buy” recommendations from established financial institution.
In addition, to ensure a diversified portfolio, not more than 20% of invested funds must be invested in any one sector while up to 5% of group’s NTA can be invested on any single stock , ETF or Index Fund.
Shares in Second Chance closed at 22 cents on Thursday.
