Why Is the Crypto Market Down Today?

The 50-59 age group comprised 6.72 million workers, followed by the 40-49 age group with 6.19 million, the 30-39 age group at 5.4 million, the 20-29 age group at 3.5 million, and the 15-19 age group with 142,000 workers.

The over-60 age group accounted for a record high of 23.4 percent of the workforce, up from 20.2 percent in May 2021.

The 50-59 age group made up 23.3 percent of the workforce, followed by the 40-49 age group at 21.5 percent. Those aged 30 to 39 constituted 19 percent of the total, while the 20-somethings accounted for 12.4 percent. The share of the 15-19 age group was 0.5 percent.

The figure of 23.4 percent represents a significant increase from July 1982, when the comparable figure was just 6 percent. At that time, the single-digit percentage accounted for only a quarter of the 26.8 percent share held by the 20-29 age group.

Meanwhile, the number of startups, excluding those in the real estate sector, reached 95,000 as of July, reflecting a 1.5 percent increase from the previous year.

Among these, the number of entities established by individuals aged 60 and older reached 13,000, marking a 14.6 percent increase from the previous year.

Source: Koreatimes

Wee Hur Holdings’ shares have been rallying over the past week on speculation over the possible sale of its purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) business in Australia.

The rally was triggered by an Oct 15 Australian Financial Review (AFR) report that US multi-family fund Greystar was acquiring GIC’s PBSA business for A$1.6 billion (S$1.4 billion). The article in the daily claimed that Wee Hur, which sold GIC a 49.9 per cent stake in same PBSA business in April 2022, is expected to retain a stake as GIC transfers ownership of its holding to Greystar.

Wee Hur, run by executive chairman Goh Yew Lian and his son and chief investment officer Goh Wee Ping, issued a clarification on Oct 17 to say that no material transactions had occurred involving those assets.

But the company disclosed it is currently engaged in “early-stage confidential discussions with a third party”, which “may or may not lead to a transaction”. The group also said that there “is no certainty whatsoever that these discussions will result in any definitive agreement or transaction materialising”. 

Nevertheless, the news has stirred quite a bit of excitement in the market, sending the stock up 19.4 per cent last week to 43 cents. 

But with the company remaining largely tight-lipped since its initial statement, there has been some confusion and speculation over the impact of this development.

Going by various market chat groups, investors are unsure whether the sale involves just GIC’s share, or the entire PBSA portfolio. Also, does the A$1.6 billion price apply to just GIC’s 49.9 per cent stake or the whole hog?

So what is happening? Let’s break it down.

First a bit of history.

Founded in 1980 and listed in 2008, Wee Hur started off as a general contractor. It ventured into property development in 2009. In 2017 it started a fund of A$350 million to invest in PBSA in Australia with a target of 5,000 beds. 

Fast forwarding to 2022, Wee Hur sold a 49.9 per cent stake in this PBSA1 fund to a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC for A$567.9 million, valuing the seven properties at A$1.14 billion. In February 2024, these properties were revalued at about A$1.4 billion, or the equivalent of S$1.23 billion.

Wee Hur owns 50.1 per cent of this PBSA business, which works out to $615.3 million or an implied 54.4 cents per Wee Hur share. After the last revaluation, this has risen to 67 cents per share.

Today, this particular portfolio consists of 5,662 beds across seven student housing properties in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Canberra.

Source: Straitstimes

South-east Asia needs to increase clean energy investments to US$190 billion (S$250 billion), about five times the current level, by 2035 to achieve its climate goals, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Oct 22.

Ramping up energy investments needs to be accompanied by strategies to reduce emissions from the region’s relatively young fleet of coal-fired plants, the IEA said in a report.

It added that rapid economic expansions were expected to pose challenges for energy security and climate goals.

However, a push to close coal power plants in emerging markets, backed by rich Western nations, is facing delays after a July deadline passed without a deal on the early closure of an Indonesian pilot project.

Electricity demand in South-east Asia is set to grow at an annual rate of 4 per cent in the coming years, with clean energy sources such as wind and solar, alongside modern bioenergy and geothermal power, projected to meet more than a third of the growth in energy demand in the region by 2035, the IEA report says.

Still, it would not be enough to rein in the region’s energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, which are set to increase by 35 per cent between now and mid-century, it says.

“Clean energy technologies are not expanding quickly enough and the continued heavy reliance on fossil fuel imports is leaving countries highly exposed to future risks,” the IEA’s executive director Fatih Birol said.

The region as a whole attracts only 2 per cent of global clean energy investment despite accounting for 6 per cent of global GDP, 5 per cent of global energy demand and being home to 9 per cent of the world’s population, according to the report.

Expanding and modernising the region’s power grids to support greater shares of variable renewable energy will require annual investment to double to nearly US$30 billion by 2035, the IEA said. 

Source: Straitstimes

The Philippines is trying to enlist Taiwanese chip giants in an effort to expand in semiconductors, a bid to catch up with its neighbours who are emerging as significant suppliers in the industry.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co and United Microelectronics Corp are among the companies the Philippines is reaching out to as it seeks equipment and expertise to build out chip fabrication operations, said Dan Lachica, head of the Southeast Asian country’s main electronics industry group. The association is working with Philippine officials in Taiwan to talk with the potential partners.

“What I am hoping is that TSMC or UMC or some other company aspiring for wafer fabs overseas is to consider: send us your depreciated equipment, and in exchange, we’ll train the Filipino workers that you can deploy in your global operations,” Lachica said.

The country of more than 100 million people trails neighbours such as Malaysia and Singapore in the complex industry of chip manufacturing, where plants can require billions of dollars in initial investment. Taiwan is the world leader, and its companies including TSMC are expanding overseas to alleviate potential risks related to tensions between the island and the Chinese government.

TSMC representatives didn’t respond to a request for comment. “It is UMC’s policy not to comment on market speculation,” a UMC spokesperson said in an email.

The Philippines is betting that its low costs and ample workforce could help attract manufacturers. Talent shortage is one of the main challenges for global chipmakers from the US to Malaysia — the industry will need more than one million additional skilled workers across the world by 2030, Deloitte has estimated.

Taiwan and the Philippines enjoy a trade relationship, and both have recurring tensions with China. Beijing views Taiwan as a breakaway province and has repeatedly threatened invasion. Meanwhile, Philippine boats have clashed with Chinese vessels as the countries spar over the disputed South China Sea.

The pitch by Lachica’s group, the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation Inc, is part of the country’s attempt to diversify beyond chip testing and packaging, a less advanced part of the manufacturing process that carries thin profit margins.

“We’re moving up the value chain as well in terms of IC design and hopefully, semiconductor wafer fab,” Lachica said.

The Philippines has lost ground to neighbours like Vietnam in recent years after a revamp of local incentive programmes led to the flow of advanced manufacturing elsewhere, according to Lachica. The country’s electronics and semiconductor exports are set to contract by 10% this year because of inventory corrections before rebounding by 5% next year, he said.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has backed a bill seeking to change the incentive regime to attract more foreign investors. Meanwhile, efforts backed by the US and Japan to build Philippine infrastructure bode well for the industry’s prospects.

“We are handicapped by the aggressiveness of Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia,” Lachica said. “We need to come up and essentially tell the world that the Philippines is open for business again.”

Source: The edge markets

Source: Barchart