Who are the winners and losers in Singapore's services sector?

The sector is forecast to grow 1.2% this year.

Services activities slowed to +1% in 2016, after growing 3.2% the year before.

The sector remained mixed and would likely trudge along at almost a similar pace (2017F: 1.2%) this year. However, the growth should remain two-tiered.

RHB lists some winners and losers:

Winners:
i. Wholesale trade (12.2% of GDP) and logistics companies (10.8% of GDP) would benefit from the external uplift, as well as increased competition amongst e-commerce retailers. However, gains would be curbed by higher borrowing costs and rising oil prices, respectively;
ii. Marketing and publishing service providers (2.3% of GDP) to be lifted by wholesale trade improvement;
iii. IT & communications sector (3% of GDP) to continue to benefit, as the nation continues to digitalise;
iv. Banking and finance (6.5% of GDP) to benefit from rising NIMs and loan growth recovery;
v. Healthcare and social (1.5% of GDP) activities should continue to expand robustly due to the ageing population.

Losers:
i. Real estate services (4.4% of GDP) should be affected by rising mortgage costs, low rentals, and immigration curbs;
ii. Retail trade (1.4% of GDP) would likely continue to suffer from online disruption and weak consumer sentiment.