09
CapitaLand Limited
Annual Report 2015
Overview
Sustainability
Business
Review
Portfolio
Details
Corporate
Governance &
Transparency
Financials &
Additional
Information
The Group continues to grow our global presence through
our serviced residence arm Ascott. In June, Ascott achieved
its target of 40,000 units ahead of schedule and ended the
year with approximately 43,000 units across more than
270 properties. It is on track to double its portfolio to 80,000
units by 2020. Ascott also made many successful inroads into
new markets. In July, the Group acquired our first property in
the United States of America through Ascott Residence Trust.
Looking Out for Opportunities in New Markets
In the direction of longer term diversification and balance, we
are currently looking out for new opportunities in Vietnam and
Indonesia. Particularly in Vietnam, the Group is leveraging on
our 22 years of track record to expand our portfolio. In 2015,
CapitaLand acquired two new plots of land in Ho Chi Minh City.
Residential sales remained healthy with 1,321 units sold, and
we achieved sales of about S$226.5 million. We currently have
more than 4,300 quality homes across eight residential projects
in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to meet the improved demand
and market conditions. In addition, Ascott also manages nearly
3,000 units in 17 properties across Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City,
Hai Phong, Danang, Nha Trang and Binh Duong.
Using Technology to Build the Future of Real Estate
To remain relevant in this digital age, the Group has proactively
rolled out multiple initiatives. For example, the CAPITASTAR
rewards programme in our shopping malls remained the
largest of its kind in Singapore and has 2.2 million members
in Singapore, China, Malaysia, Japan and India. By analysing
the aggregated data collected of our members’ shopping
preferences, we helped our retailers improve their service
and productivity. CAPITASTAR also provides a platform for
us to engage our shoppers and better integrate services and
products into their lifestyles.
CapitaLand became the first foreign property developer
in China to collaborate with Jia.com, China’s leading
renovation, furnishing and home services e-platform. Home
owners of selected residential projects are able to enjoy
renovation packages offered by Jia.com. We are also the
first property developer in China to open a virtual store on
JD.com, one of the largest local B2C online retailers. Eleven
of CapitaLand’s properties across nine Chinese cities are
available for sale through this platform.
To reach out to the growing number of Chinese travellers
and create a seamless O2O (Online-to-Offline and Offline-
to-Online) experience for guests, Ascott led a consortium to
invest over S$120 million in Tujia.com International, China’s
largest online apartment sharing platform. Ascott’s more
than 6,000 rooms in China are now accessible on Tujia.com,
and the listing will soon be expanded to include our global
portfolio. In addition, Ascott will lead a JV with Tujia to operate
and franchise serviced apartments in China. This is on top of
Ascott’s on-going initiative with Samsung to introduce smart
home features in selected Ascott properties.
Managing Talent and Corporate Social Responsibility
The Group owes our achievement to the hard work of our
dedicated staff. We strongly believe in attracting the right talent,
and nurturing and retaining them. CapitaLand has always
focused on developing our talent pool and this ensures we
have depth in our management bench strength. Furthermore,
we actively identify talent both internally and externally for
future leadership succession. We strive to continue providing
our staff with a positive and dynamic work environment.
To commemorateSG50, we launched theBuildingCommunities
- Setting the stage for Singapore2065 (#BuildSG2065) crowd-
sourcing campaign in 2015. The public ideas sourced through
the campaign also affirmed CapitaLand’s view of the future
– integrated and interconnected buildings and communities.
In addition, the Group’s philanthropic arm, CapitaLand
Hope Foundation (CHF) celebrated its 10th anniversary with
the year-long #100KHopeHours global volunteer initiative.
Over 200,000 pledged volunteer hours within and beyond
the Group were garnered and CHF donated S$300,000 to
the President’s Challenge 2015. In total, CHF donated over
S$2.4 million in 2015 to support underprivileged children in
their shelter, education and healthcare needs.
Acknowledgement
Mr James Koh, who has served with distinction on the Board
of CapitaLand for many years, will not be seeking re-election as
Director at the upcoming Annual General Meeting. The Board
and management have benefited immensely from his wise
counsel and deep insights. We thank him for his invaluable
contributions and wish him well in all his endeavours.
We would also like to express our appreciation to the Board
members for their counsel and advice; staff for their many years
of dedicated service and contributions to CapitaLand; and all
our shareholders, financiers, business partners, customers
and associates for their strong support and commitment.
Moving Forward With Confidence
CapitaLand has a strong base with AUM of S$76.8 billion and
deep experience in the countries we operate in. This provides
us with a robust platform to grow our position as a pre-eminent
real estate group in Asia and beyond.
We will proactively advance our integrated development,
shopping mall and serviced residence businesses whilst
seeking out opportunities in residential developments. Our
deep competencies in these businesses, coupled with our
active capital management through our REITs and funds
platforms, will fuel our growth. We will also continue to
actively make use of technology to advance all aspects of our
businesses and to enhance our relationships with our business
partners, customers and all other stakeholders.
Ng Kee Choe
Chairman
23 March 2016
Lim Ming Yan
President & Group Chief Executive Officer
