Aug 22, 2013

Company benefit from Singapore National plan - NDR 2013

Singapore intends to construct a retail and recreational centre, replacing the current Terminal 1 car park, as its crown ‘Jewel’ to further cement its place as a leading global airport. To be designed by Moshe Safdie, the man behind the iconic Marina Bay Sands, it has been reported that the multi-storey complex will have a glass and steel design, feature a 5-storey high waterfall and serve as hub connecting the current 3 terminals. Changi Airport will partner CapitaMalls Asia (BUY, TP $2.34) for this project. The expected completion date is 2018.

Additionally, T1 will undergo an expansion to increase its capacity to 24m passengers from 21m currently and together with T4 to be completed by 2017, Changi Airport’s total capacity will rise to 85m passengers by 2018.

We see such plans as positive for the long-term growth and development of Singapore-based aviation companies. Already a leading airport hub in the region, the continuous improvement and upgrade in terms of both capacity and facilities of Changi Airport should help Singapore stay ahead of regional peers such as Hong Kong as an aviation hub.

Closer to home, we do not see
Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta Airport, or even KLIA as Singapore competitors as much of their traffic caters to a different segment. In fact, one can make the argument that Changi’s growth has, in fact, been somewhat restricted by the fact that there are very limited slots in Jakarta as an example, and that the skies in ASEAN are yet to be fully liberalised. From the chart above, we can see that most of the major airports in ASEAN are already operating well above their design capacity.

Nonetheless, the plans to further improve and expand Changi Airport should help it keep its widely acclaimed ‘Best Airport in the world’ position well into the next decade.

By the time T5 is completed, Changi Airport’s annual capacity will reach 132m passengers, which is double that of the current capacity and will allow for growth well beyond 2025, assuming 5% CAGR from 2012 onwards.

Airlines such as SIA (HOLD, TP S$11) and Tigerair (BUY, TP S$0.74) should benefit from Singapore’s continuous enhancement as a leading airport hub in this region, as airport facilities and amenities can play an important factor in determining travellers’ choice of airlines. At the same time, Changi’s forward looking expansion means that there should be no worries for airlines looking for more slots to grow (although this would also allow for more competition).

Companies with strong track records could benefit from Changi’s expansion plans in the long term. This will include Yongnam Holdings (FULLY VALUED, TP S$0.24) , which is a key provider of structural steelworks for regional airport projects and formerly involved in Changi Airports Terminal 1 expansion, as well as Pan United Corp (BUY, S$1.21), which fulfilled the entire ready mix concrete requirement for Terminal 3.

Relocation of Paya Lebar Airbase positive for ST Engineering and SIA Engineering

The planned shift of Paya Lebar Airbase along with aviation related industries to Changi, should provide a platform (and room) for the aviation sector’s future growth. This will also be an important growth driver for Singapore, as airport and related services provide over 160,000 jobs and account for 6% of GDP, according to the Prime Minister.

We believe the clearest winners should be MRO players such as ST Engineering (BUY, TP S$4.80) and SIA Engineering (HOLD, TP S$5.10) as Changi’s expansion will support sustained growth in the number of flights (without a bottleneck seen in airports such as Jakarta), and there remains very low risk of a new entrant into this market given the high barriers of entry.

Secondly, the planned move of Paya Lebar Airbase to a Changi East site beyond 2030 should also provide more room for the MRO sector’s growth in the long-term, in addition to being closer in proximity to complementary operations at Changi Airport. This will help MRO players like ST Engineering, which has significant MRO operations at Paya Lebar, to consolidate operations and better service both military and commercial customers.

On the other hand, this development could be seen as mixed for SATS (HOLD, TP S$3.29) as a bigger pie could now attract even more players into this segment, bearing in mind that Airport Service International Group (ASIG) was just recently awarded Singapore’s 3rd ground handling license in 2011.

One of the key beneficiary sectors in the long term is the industrial sector, as the Paya Lebar and Ubi area have significant proportion of industrial properties. S-REITs that have a more significant exposure as a % of total portfolio near the Paya Lear region include Sabana (49%) , Mapletree Industrial Trust ( 29%) and Cambridge REIT ( 19%). Should the plot ratios be raised in the long run, these assets could enjoy capital value expansion.

Redevelopment of Southern Corridor benefits MCOT and Keppel Land

Redevelopment plans for the Southern Corridor was reiterated. The Tanjong Pagar area where container port land is located will be freed up for an exciting Southern Waterfront City. This city will cover 1000ha of land from Shenton Way to Pasir Panjang and would likely include a proposed new waterfront city at the existing port site at Tanjong Pagar and Pulau Brani (300ha) as well as redeveloping the former Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd railway station site. Essentially, it would expand the CBD with quality housing, hotels, lifestyle and amenities. This will happen after the relocation of the City and Pasir Panjang Terminals to Tuas from 2027 onwards.

Companies with landbank or exposure in this corridor would be Mapletree Commercial Trust and Keppel Land, through its Telok Blangah landbank. The prospect of turning into a vibrant waterfront locale would have a positive knock-on effect on capital values in the long run. Mapletree Commercial Trust’s VivoCity and PSA Building make up c60-65% of portfolio value and is a key beneficiary of this southern corridor. For Keppel Land, the group has a total of 262,000sf of attributable residential landbank in Telok Blangah and Tanjong Pagar, representing 25% of its Singapore landholdings.

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