Temasek portfolio up 19% to S$266b in FY15

TEMASEK Holdings posted a net portfolio gain of 19 per cent or S$43 billion to S$266 billion for the year ended March 31, 2015, in its most active year since the global financial crisis.

Temasek said on Tuesday in its 2015 review that group net profit rose to S$14.5 billion, from a restated S$10.9 billion - due to new accounting standards - in 2014. It had a 19.2 per cent total shareholder return (TSR) for the year.

The three-year TSR was 9.62 per cent. Longer term 10-year and 20-year TSRs were 9 per cent and 7 per cent respectively. TSR since its inception in 1974 was 16 per cent.

"This was the most active year for us since the global financial crisis. We made S$30 billion of new investments, and a record S$19 billion of divestments," said Lim Boon Heng, Temasek chairman.

New investments had three themes - consumer, financials and life sciences, said Ravi Lambah, Temasek senior managing director, at a media briefing.

Investments are funded primarily from dividend and distribution income, as well as proceeds from divestments.

About half of the new investments are in Asia, followed by the mature markets of North America and Europe, Temasek said.

Exposure to North America and Europe rose to 17 per cent from 14 per cent previously.

Overall Singapore remains the largest country exposure by underlying assets, at 28 per cent of its total portfolio, down from 31 per cent previously. This is an increase of S$24 billion over the last 10 years, it said.

Exposure to Asia excluding Singapore rose to 42 per cent, from 41 per cent, as Temasek increased its investments in China.

Exposure to China stood at 27 per cent as at March 2015, up from 25 per cent previously.

"From our earlier investments in banks as broad proxies of a transforming economy, we have broadened our exposure to include sectors like insurance, consumer, and technology, which are likely to benefit from the transformation of China," it said.

By sector, financials is the largest at 28 per cent, down from 30 per cent in 2014.

The biggest jump was in consumer, at 15 per cent from 12 per cent.

Last year, Temasek set up its London office to cover Europe, and the New York office for the Americas.

In North America, investments included US biotechnology companies BioMarin and Alexion post year end. It also took a stake in energy company Cheniere. In June 2015, it invested in chemical distribution company Univar.

European investments included Deutsche Post DHL and engineering company Gaztransport & Technigaz, and Origo, a North Sea oil exploration company.

Divestments included paring its stake in China Construction Bank by about one per cent, while continuing to own the pre-IPO shares that it has held since 2005, Temasek said. After the IPO of Alibaba in September 2014, Temasek monetised around 10 per cent of its long-held stake. It fully exited Mosaic, Cloudary, Kunlun Energy and Medreich.