OUE C-REIT

[cyclone]

Retail slump: One Raffles Place is latest to suffer

by Melissa Lin
Published May 24, 2017

When One Raffles Place shopping mall reopened in 2014 after a major makeover, it boasted a strong tenant line-up, much to the delight of office workers in the area.

But three years on, all but one of these crowd-pullers have shut or will move out by next month, as the retail slump claims yet another casualty. Lingerie brand Victoria's Secret, fashion retailer Uniqlo and cafe Paris Baguette have already closed their stores at the six-storey mall next to Raffles Place MRT station.

Travel products store Tumi, watch brand Swatch, jeweller Pandora and shoe brand Melissa have decided not to renew their leases and will shut soon. A check by The Straits Times last Friday found that of the 113 tenants, at least 14 have closed.

At least another 13 will be moving out by next month when their three-year lease ends - which means close to 25 per cent of the mall's retail space could be empty.

More details in http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/re...-to-suffer

[CY09]

https://links.sgx.com/FileOpen/OUE_REIT_...eID=828552

OUE REIT has divested its remaining China asset. Though one thing which stood out and was not mentioned in the circular was that the sale of the building was 20% off its 2.4 billion RMB valuation on OUE balance sheet. No doubt OUE REIT leverage will fall but the question is if the valuation of assets in the REIT's balance sheet is sound, may warrant why the REIT has been always trading at 0.5-0.6 times book value