ComfortDelGro still keen on Aussie listing, eyes bigger logistics play
Singapore
MAINBOARD-LISTED transportation heavyweight ComfortDelGro Corporation has not given up on listing its Australian subsidiary, even though it does not need cash.
And the group is looking at making further inroads into the logistics field, including investing in related properties, if necessary.
Chairman Lim Jit Poh told the media on Monday (Feb 28) that ComfortDelGro's public listing of its investments Down Under is a matter of time - "maybe a year or so" - as its objective to unlock value for shareholders remains.
ComfortDelGro put the brakes on the listing plan when it hit roadblocks after the "market conditions" in Australia became challenging last November. "We don't need cash," Lim added at the press conference for the group's financial results for FY2021.
The transport heavyweight delivered 42 per cent lower year-on-year earnings at S$39.1 million for the second-half of the financial year to Dec 31, 2021, compared to S$67.4 million for the corresponding period in 2020. The lower bottom line was logged as operating costs rose 8 per cent, stronger currencies in the markets ComfortDelGro operates in vis-a-vis the Singapore dollar, reduced state reliefs and a one-off disposal loss of 241 diesel buses.
This was in spite of a 5.1 per cent higher top line at nearly S$1.8 billion, up from about S$1.7 billion a year earlier.
The taxi business, which has encountered keen rivalry from private hire companies, raked in S$200.2 million or 10.9 per cent lower, mainly due to continued rental discounts to tide drivers over the pandemic and a smaller fleet size in Singapore.
Earnings per share were S$0.018, lower than the S$0.0311 for H2 FY 2020.
The board has proposed a dividend of S$0.021 for payment on May 27, if approved by shareholders. A lower dividend of S$0.0143 was paid out for H2 FY2020.
ComfortDelGro had a cash pile of over S$900 million as at end-2021, which would come in handy for expansion. Lim said the transport heavyweight is "looking hard" at some logistics business, including taking stakes in related properties such as warehouses, if that would help it to clinch logistic transportation deals.
"Property play takes a lot of money," he added. And ComfortDelGro is likely to take the acquisition route in its expansion, rather than starting afresh as the latter is "very difficult".
It entered the construction logistics business in China last November, through a joint venture to transport concrete.
For the full year, earnings more than doubled to S$130.1 million from S$60.8 million on a 9.1 per cent improvement in top line, which rose to S$3.5 billion from S$3.2 billion Excluding government reliefs to alleviate the economic impact of the pandemic, ComfortDelGro reported an operating profit of S$125.4 million, reversing from an operating loss of S$47.6 million for 2020.
Net asset value per ordinary share as at end-2021 was 124.90 Singapore cents, marginally higher than the restated value of 122.15 cents as at end-2020. The shares of the transport heavyweight were 1 cent lower at S$1.41 on Monday at market close, before the financial results were released.
