Daily Debrief: What Happened Today

Corporate payment performance improves in Q1; construction sector still lags
SINGAPORE'S construction sector recorded the highest percentage of delayed bill payments for the ninth consecutive quarter, but the overall payment performance of local firms got off to a strong start in the first three months of 2018.

Accuron Medtech divests Veredus Labs to Sekisui Chemical
SEKISUI Chemical, a high-performance plastics company based in Japan, is acquiring homegrown Veredus Laboratories, a molecular diagnostics kit maker, in one of the largest-ever exits in the local medtech space.

Burden of rescuing failed banks in Singapore likely to rest on MAS, shareholders: Moody's
THE Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is more likely to resolve a failing bank by getting equity holders to pay the price than by forcing creditors to accept haircuts, Moody's Investors Service has said in a report.

Private school grads in Singapore lag markedly behind peers from public universities in job market: survey
Nearly half of them - 47.4 per cent - found full-time permanent work six months after finishing their studies, compared with 78.4 per cent for their peers from three publicly-funded universities. 

Banyan Tree, Vanke JV acquires all hotel assets of Banyan Tree China Hospitality Fund
A JOINT venture (JV) between Banyan Tree Holdings and Chinese real estate developer Vanke has acquired all the hotel assets of the Banyan Tree China Hospitality Fund for 1.35 billion yuan (S$282.2 million) as part of plans to form a strategic partnership in China.

Airbnb hosts who made illegal short-term home rentals fined S$60,000 in first case before Singapore court
This is the first case of prosecution for a breach of the Urban Redevelopment Authority's rules on short-term rentals. Rules making home sharing illegal kicked in on May 15 last year.

The STI today

Singapore shares close lower on Tuesday, dragged down by Wall Street
THE Straits Times Index traded within the range of 3,387.38 to 3,412.15, before settling at 3,412.15, down 0.54 per cent, or 18.61 points, from Monday's close.