Sales commentary, not BofA research

Headlines

l  Y’day: NKY +0.11%, HSI +2.85%, SHCOMP +2.13%, KOSPI +1.36%

l  Overnight: Dow +0.36%, SPX +0.45%, Nasdaq +0.52%

l  Overnight US started strong on better than xpctd NFP & unemployment, but pared gains into close

l  US: Unemployment rate 11.1% vs 12.5% est

l  US: biggest ↑ virus cases since May 9, further sparking fears 2nd wave cld impact economic rebound.

l  US: Closed tonight for Independence Day

l  US: Fauci -New Mutation May Speed the Spread of Coronavirus (BBG)

l  US: Fauci - US faces ‘serious situation’; US never got virus under control before re-opening

l  US: Trump administration plans pandemic office a/f disbanding old one: CNN

l  US-CN: Trade gap widens 7.3% to US$27.9B in May

l  US-CN: Kudlow: US-CN engaged on Phase 1 Deal 'at the moment'

l  US-CN: Congress passes China-Sanctions bill & will now head to Trump for final approval.

l  JP: Experts say outbreak is continuing to grow; Koike - time to sound caution over infections in Tokyo

l  JP: Tokyo Stock Xchng to launch "Tokyo Stock Exchnge REIT Logistics Focus Index" from Jul 20

l  HK: Schroders bought majority stake in $1.1b Asian real estate mngr Pamfleet HK.

l  HK: Gap reportedly closing 2 of 8 HK stores - @ Albion Plaza in TST & Hysan Place in Causeway Bay

l  HK: Li Ka Shing buys back 2.6m shares in CK Asset (1113) from June24-30

l  AU: Scentre says retail customer visits in AU & NZ Westfield malls reaches 86% of YoY

l  AU: WeWork opens 19th Australian location in Brisbane’s Golden Triangle.

Have a great weekend.

Finally: Worried about the impact of being able to WFH on offices?  Well imagine if you could just slip on a pair of glasses & see all your colleagues at their desks working (just like you were in an office, even though everyone was in a different physical location).  Or, slip on some glasses & suddenly your tiny 1 room apartment is a villa in phuket with ocean views, or just a much more spacious residence.  Its coming.  Facebook have revealed the 'world's thinnest' VR headset that looks like a pair of sunglasses. FB says the concept lenses are <0.3 inches (9mm) thick.  The technology uses a special light refraction technique to enable the 'thinnest VR display demonstrated to date'. The lenses use holography – a photographic technique that records light scattered from an object & presents it as 3D.  Holographics use laser light sources, which provide a wider range of colours than LEDs common in today’s VR headsets, phones, computers & TVs.  This allows wearers to enjoy a set of vivid & saturated colours like a ‘brightly lit neon sign’ or the ‘iridescent sheen of a butterfly wing’.  (Daily Mail)   … Think of the possibilities!  I could be wandering around, shopping at Bicester Village… from my couch…& Mr Cooper wouldn’t even know.  But what happens to physical retail if this takes off? Retail as fulfillment centres?  Discuss

China’s Resi land price ↑16%YoY in 1H, Hangzhou taking top w/ Rmb180b land income. (The Paper)

Hangzhou tightens & refines regulation on “draw lots” on primary project launches. (21 Jinji) >>> (1) For primary units w/ ASP <Rmb35k/m², 50% of them must be distributed to household w/out home unit; (2) tougher definition for “household w/out home unit”; (3) 1 household can only participate in 1 “draw lots” at the same time; (4) preferential units acqd by talents have 5yr min holding period.

Huailai County in greater Beijing area denied property relaxations. The expiration of previous HPR policy doc doesn’t mean cancelation of HPRs. (Sina)

Changsha relaxed ASP caps in new land tenders.  (Sina)

Dongguan new home price increase can’t exceed 10% in 3 mths.  (The paper)

Vanke Jun contract sales Rmb73b, -4% YoY. GFA 5m m². 1H Rmb320.5b, GFA 20.8m m². (Co)

Gemdale Jun contract sales Rmb33.8b (+62%YoY) GFA 1.7m m² (+61%). 1H Rmb102b (+19%), GFA 4.8m m² (+13%). (Guandian)

Aoyuan Jun contract sales Rmb17.6b (+72%MoM, +15%YoY). 1H Rmb51b. (Co)

R&F Jun contract sales Rmb14.5b (+37%MoM), GFA 1.2m m² (+32%MoM), 1H Rmb51b, GFA 4.3m m². (Co)

R&F rating cut to B+ from BB- by Fitch to reflect slower-than-xpctd deleveraging & weaker liquidity. (Fitch)

HK May retail sales ↓ 32.8%YoY to HK$26.8b. (Standard)

HK 2ndary housing price index ↑1.9% in May, biggest gain in 13mths, per Rating & Valn Dept. (SCMP)

Schroders bought a majority stake in $1.1b Asian real estate mngr Pamfleet HK. (Co)

US clothing retailer Gap to close 2 of 8 HK stores in nxt few wks due to Covid-19 induced slowdown. (SCMP)
Per press, Albion Plaza store in TST will close this month, followed by Hysan Place in Causeway Bay

Li Ka Shing Foundation bought 2.6m shrs in CK Asset Jun 24-30 @ HK$47.5525, HK$47.3462, HK$46.6933, HK$46.1828. Li-Ka shing’s stake in CKA ↑to 35.27%, Victor Li’s stake ↑to 35.34%. (HKEX)

Wheelock prices 1^st 83 units in Koko Hills resi proj, Cha Kwo Ling @ effective HK$19,264-21,596/ft². (HKET)

SG prop invsmt ↓45% to S$6.13b in 1H20, according to Cushman & Wakefield. (Biz Times)

Matthews ceases to be substantial sh/ldr of CapitaLand Retail China Trust to 4.999% from 5.045%. (Co)

Mapletree Dextra’s total interest in Mapletree Industrial Trust↓to 26.74% from 28.52%, Mapletree Invsmts’ in MINT ↓to 27.39% from 29.21%. (Co)

Scentre says retail customer visits in AU & NZ’s Westfield malls reaches 86% lvl of same time last yr. (SMH)

WeWork opens 19^th Australian location in Brisbane’s Golden Triangle. (AFR)

Tokyo Stock Xchng will start calculating & publishing "Tokyo Stock Exchnge REIT Logistics Focus Index" from Jul 20. Will rebalance annually end of July & 1^st rebalance in July-end 2021. (JPX)

Land prices in Japan ↑1.6%YoY on avg, up for 5^th consecutive yr, per National Tax Agency. (JP Times)

AXA buys Daiwa House resi complex in Nagoya for \20b ($186m), co’s largest resi invsmt in JP.(Mingtiandi)

Reno cuts joint stake of Leopalace21 to 15.05% from 16.77%. (Kabutan).

Leopalace21 raises rent for new apt contracts. (Nikkei) 

Fitch Ratings cuts India FY22 gwth f/c to 8% from 9.5% f/c’d last mth. Econ to↓5% this FY. (India Times)

India’s housing prices index ↑ 3.9%YoY in 4QFY19-20, per RBI. (India Times)

Godrej Props / ASPL reportedly to jointly devp 1.1mft² resi project at Worli, Mumbai. (India Times)

Indonesia’s CPI grows 1.96%YoY in Jun, lowest since Jun 2000. (Jakarta Post)

Kenanga Invsmt Bank anncs Bursa Secs approved listing & quotation of up to ~239m new ordinary shrs in UOA Devt to be issued pursuant to the DRS in respect of the Final Div on Main Mkt of Bursa Secs. (Co)

Megaworld sees 50% ↓in home reservation sales to P75b. 1Q reservation sales ↓to P19.5b from P48b yr ago as demand was affected by Taal Volcano eruption & uncertainty over the pandemic. To keep resi project launches this yr @ P4.4b. Under this yr’s reduced P36b capex, tgts to add 110k m² offices; 26k m² retail + add 526 hotel rooms. (BBG)

Thailand’s economy xpctd to contract by at least 5%YoY in 2020, per World Bank. (Bangkok Post)

Supalai bought back 15,000 shrs at Bt16.7-16.8/sh for Bt251,000 on Jul 2. (Co)

* My pa holdings: BAC US, 1 HK, 6 HK, ST SP