Daily Briefing: Singapore home sales drop; Singapore shipping trust seeks restructuring

And Singapore biopharma industry makes significant strides.

Singapore home sales fell in August as developers marketed fewer projects in a month considered inauspicious by Chinese homebuyers. Developers sold 473 units last month, compared with 1,091 in July, according to data released Thursday by the Urban Redevelopment Authority. Read more here.

A Singapore-based shipping trust that operates container ships is asking creditors for leniency on about $253 million of debt, in the latest sign of debt woes in the industry and in the city-state. Rickmers Maritime won’t be able to repay $179.7 million of bonds due in March 2017 and the interest and principal on S$100 million ($73.3 million) of notes due in May 2017, it said in an investor presentation filed to the Singapore Exchange Thursday. Find out more here.

Healthcare facilities in Singapore are widely regarded as among some of the best in the world. Moreover, Singapore is ranked fourth in the world for innovation in the biopharma industry, according to a recent report from the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF) based in Washington, D.C. Read more here.