Singapore’s worsening recession has just claimed the collapse of two familiar long-time brand – Tiger Airways and ANZ bank.
Tiger Airways’ (Tigerair) aerospace operations will be merged under budget airline Scoot from next year onwards, according to parent company Singapore Airlines (SIA). The news comes after Tigerair revealed a S$182.4 million losses in the latest quarterly financial result. This comes as a surprise on a backdrop of low oil prices as other airlines reap profits from low fuel expenses. The Temasek Holdings-owned national air carrier, SIA, will pump in S$140 million to bail out the budget airline, but dissolve the Tigerair brand.
ANZ Bank announced on Oct 31 that it will close down the retail banking and wealth businesses in Asia by selling them to DBS Bank – another Temasek Holdings-owned corporation. The total sale amount to S$28 billion – including S$11 billion in loans and S$17 billion in deposits – and is valuated at around S$110 million premium above net tangible assets.
Over at the property sector, Singapore’s retail businesses are similarly collapsing with media reports of empty malls taking headlines in recent weeks.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has however ruled out calling the current recession a “crisis”, and made no mention of any government response.