Daily Briefing: SIA profit jumps by 36%; Slower retail sales in Singapore

And here’s how stock market losses affect property.

Singapore Airlines said Thursday its third-quarter net profit surged 36 percent from the previous year, thanks largely to lower fuel expenses. Oil prices plunged to 12-year lows in January and analysts say they will remain depressed at least for the rest of 2016 due to a supply glut and weak demand. Proceeds from the sale and leaseback of some aircraft also boosted profits, the airline said in a filing with the Singapore Exchange. Read more here.

The decline in tourist spending, growth of online retail, and more Singaporeans shopping overseas led to slower retail sales growth in Singapore during the past three years, with island-wide retail rents dropping four percent last year, revealed a JLL report. In 2014, around 1.44 million Singapore residents shopped online, up 30 percent from 2012, according to the InfoComm Development Authority (IDA) as cited by JLL in a press release dated 4 February. Find out more here.

Recent declines in the Singapore stock market could signal a further property price correction in the coming months, according to JLL. This comes as stock market movement typically leads property market movement by one to two quarters. Looking back into the past, the residential market for example, corrected by four to six percent a quarter in some instances. Find out more here.