Artists impression of SRE’s retail project in Chongqing, China
YEAR IN REVIEW
Real Estate (continued)
Maiden Investment Project in China
Straits Real Estate has committed to acquiring a retail mall
in Chongqing, China. Located in Chayuan, a new middle-
income district, the mall will be the first organised retail
scheme in the area. When completed, the mall will have
a total gross floor area of approximately 82,367 square
metres, distributed over two basements and five above-
ground levels. The property is part of a larger mixed-use
development that comprises 29 residential buildings, 4
office towers, a hotel and an open-air street mall. The mall
is also directly linked to the subway station through the
basement floor, and enjoys excellent access to other parts of
Chongqing via a well developed network of ring roads and
expressways.
ARA Summit Development Fund 1 L.P. (“SDF 1”)
During the year, Straits Real Estate also committed to
investing in SDF 1, managed by ARA Asset Management
Limited. SDF 1 is a private real estate investment fund with
a mandate to invest in green or brown field development
projects in Australia and South East Asia.
For more information on Straits Real Estate Pte. Ltd., please
visit
SRE Capital Pte. Ltd. (“SRE Capital”)
Straits Real Estate has also set up SRE Capital. SRE Capital’s
core business is in the management of both internal and
third-party capital for investment in publicly listed REITs,
asset-backed trusts and corporate securities in the real estate
and infrastructure sectors within the Asia Pacific region.
For more information on SRE Capital Pte. Ltd., please visit
ARA ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED (“ARA”)
ARA, a 20.1% owned associate company of Straits Trading,
is one of the largest real estate fund managers in the region
that manages listed REITs in Singapore, Hong Kong and
Malaysia with diversified portfolio across the office, retail
and industrial sector. ARA also invests and manages
private real estate funds in Asia and provides real estate
management services.
In 2014, ARA delivered another year of outstanding
performance, with 23% and 18% year-on-year growth in
revenue and net profit respectively. Total assets under
management (“AUM”) grew 1.7% year-on-year from S$25.9
billion to S$26.3 billion despite ongoing divestments by its
private funds.
During the year, apart from organic growth driven by its
existing REITs and private fund platforms, ARA continued
to seek out exciting growth opportunities by penetrating
new markets. One such example is the completion of the
acquisition of Macquarie Real Estate Korea Limited in April
26
THE STRAITS TRADING COMPANY LIMITED ANNUAL REPORT 2014
