Popular Posts Record Turnover For 15 Years Running
Higher contribution from Popular Holdings’ addition of nine new outlets and net organic growth from existing outlets brought the company’s turnover for the year ended 30 April 2012 (FY12) to $567.3 million. This is the fifteenth consecutive year of record turnover for Popular since its listing in 1997. Bulk of the $44.8 million or 8.6 percent rise was attributed to the growth in its retail and distribution division which recorded a year-on-year increase of $43.3 million to $482 million. The property development segment contributed an additional $1.8 million to turnover’s growth while the company’s publishing & e-learning turnover was flat at $55.7 million. On the back of the turnover growth and lower than proportionate increase in operating expenses, net profit surged 30.7 percent to a record $31.1 million. Along with the stronger results, Popular proposed a final dividend of $0.008 a share to reward its shareholders. As at 30 April 2012, the firm has 148 retail stores in Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong.
Significance: The continual improvement in performance exhibited by Popular reflects the robustness of its business model. This is rewarding for shareholders partly in the form of dividends. The declaration of a final dividend will bring FY12 dividend to a total of $0.013. This translates to a 30 percent jump over last year dividends.
OCBC Revises Cache Logistics’ Target Price Upwards; Keeps Buy Rating
Citing Cache Logistics Trust’s (Cache Logistics) recent investment plan of a logistics property in Singapore, OCBC Investment Research tweaked its target price for Cache Logistics to $1.18 from $1.11 while maintaining its buy rating. In a recently held extraordinary general meeting, Cache Logistics was given the green light by shareholders to proceed with its proposed acquisition of Pandan Logistics Hub, a newly developed ramp-up logistics warehouse facility located on Pandan Road. The transaction will be a sale and leaseback arrangement with its sponsor CWT. OCBC expects the rental income from Pandan Logistics Hub to come in at $5.2 million in the first year. This translates to an initial net property income yield of 7.6 percent and is expected to add $0.0028 to its distribution per unit (DPU) on an annualised basis. “We continue to like Cache for its resilient portfolio, healthy financial position and attractive fiscal 2012 DPU yield of 7.9 percent,” said OCBC.
Significance: The purchase will be Cache Logistics’ largest to-date and will increase the total assets under management to $944.0 million. Shares of Cache Logistics have gained roughly 11 percent since the start of the year, surpassing the Straits Times Index’s 9.5 percent growth.
Boustead Energy-Related Engineering Division Clinches $20m Worth Of Deals Worldwide
In an announcement dated 29 June, Boustead Singapore said its Energy-Related Engineering division has secured $20 million in contracts within the past month from the oil and gas industries globally. The deals involve the design, process engineering and construction of key largescale process systems and waste heat recovery units for downstream oil refineries and gas processing plants, and upstream offshore installations. The works from both new and repeat clients will be carried out in Algeria, Bolivia, Canada, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Wong Fong Fui, chief executive officer of Boustead said, “We are encouraged by the strong pipeline of enquiries – despite the recent dip in crude oil prices – and we expect good progress on negotiations throughout FY2013.” He emphasised that a key strength of Boustead’s Engineering Division is in its well-established global network of 83 countries which now extends to include Bolivia and Hong Kong.
Significance: The latest contracts follow after $35 million in contracts awarded to the division which were announced in March. With the addition of the latest contracts, Boustead’s order book backlog currently stands at $371 million.
