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17 January 2008
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CREDIT STANDING OF SINGAPORE'S TOP 1000 COMPANIES HITS AN ALL TIME HIGH
Public Listed Companies feature prominently in inaugural S1000 ROE rankings
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17 January 2008 [Singapore] - Singapore's top 1000 companies have proven themselves to be among the best managed in the world with 62.7% receiving the prestigious Investment Grade Credit Rating of DP 1-4, compared to just 51.9% last year.
The improvement in the credit standing of Singapore's leading companies was revealed in the 2008 Singapore 1000 (S1000) and Small and Medium Enterprise 500 (SME500) rankings compiled by DP Information Group (DP Info).
The rankings use the audited results of over 8,000 companies incorporated
in Singapore and ranks them according to their sales, profit and return on equity performance.
According to the Managing Director of DP Info, Ms Chen Yew Nah, good credit ratings
reflect on the ability of managers to grow their business without taking unnecessary financial
risks.
"The increase in the number of Investment Grade companies shows Singaporean businesses are
growing in a sustained and prudent fashion. This result is a tribute to the competence of
our managers."
"A good credit rating rewards companies who are financially responsible and who grow their business with the right balance of external and internal financing. Credit ratings also take into consideration a company's ability to generate shareholder
returns and how they improve and manage their asset portfolios," Ms Chen said.
Ms Tan Siew Meng, HSBC's Head of Commercial Banking added, "A good credit rating is the
internationally recognised indicator of a well managed enterprise. It is also a passport
to international trade, a calling card for business partners and the key to obtaining preferential
credit and financing."
The improvement in the credit standing of Singapore companies is particularly relevant in view of
the recent sub-prime mortgage crisis. As Ms Chen explains, "Banks have started to re-evaluate
their credit evaluation processes and will be more prudent in their monitoring of credit
behaviours in the future. Certain sectors may find themselves under greater periodic scrutiny in
regards to their credit evaluation."
Remarkably, the industry with the highest percentage of DP1-4 companies is
the property sector, with 81.2% of its 32 ranked companies qualifying as
Investment Grade. Property companies have steadily improved their standing
in most of the S1000 criteria over the last few years reflecting the current boom in the property
sector.
Hotels/Food Establishments and Manufacturing both performed well in their credit ratings
in comparison to other industry sectors as well. In the Hotel/Food Establishment sector,
78.6% of companies are rated DP1-4 Investment Grade as are 77.0% of Manufacturing companies.
RETURN ON EQUITY RANKING & PERFORMANCE
A new feature in this year's publication is a ranking of the top 1000 corporations and 500 SMEs
ranked by their Return on Equity (absolute profit / shareholder equity).
"This inclusion of the ROE ranking makes it easy to compare the profit
generated per dollar of capital that shareholders have invested in these companies,"
Ms Chen explains.
"So in addition to recognising the companies with the most sales
and largest profits, we are now honouring companies based on the efficiency
with which they generate returns with the resources available to them,"
Ms Chen said.
Of the public listed companies ranked in the S1000 Net Profit ranking,
almost 69.0% of them (178 of 259) are ranked in the S1000 ROE ranking.
Starhub Limited, which reported a 62.7% jump in net profit is the best performing PLC
in the S1000 ranking, with an ROE of 74%.
Another company with an outstanding ROE performance is Wing Tai Clothing Pte Ltd with an ROE of
412%. The company retails apparel and during the ranking period added nine new outlets under
the following brands; G2000, U2, Topshop, Topman, Dorothy Perkins, Warehouse, Karen Millen,
Nike Women and Nike Sports Culture.
OVERALL PERFORMANCE
The 2008 S1000 and SME 500 rankings have recorded a remarkable set of results with every
major indicator showing improvement. The performance of the S1000 companies, SME500
companies and Publicly Listed Companies (PLCs) all delivered improved sales and profits.
After breaking through the $1 trillion turnover barrier last year, the S1000 companies
followed up with another strong performance, increasing their combined sales by 11.8%
from S$1.16 trillion last year to S$1.29 trillion in this year's ranking period.
Profits are also growing healthily, up by 15.5% to $83.53 billion.
The SME 500 companies ranked by Turnover recorded a steady increase
in sales of 3.4% to S$13.9 billion with profits growing by 4.9% to S$665.5 million.
PLCs were the strongest performer of all three categories, with sales increasing by 17.8%
from S$214.4 billion in 2007 to S$252.5 billion. The shareholders of the PLC companies
would even have more to cheer by their profit performance, up by 32.9% from S$25.9 billion
last year to S$34.5 billion this year.
HUB SINGAPORE CONTINUES TO BOOM
This year's S1000 rankings confirm that "Hub Singapore" has well and truly arrived.
Since 2001 the Communications/Transport/ Storage sector of S1000 has increased its
turnover from S$57 billion to S$141 billion – a staggering 147% increase. The sector is
the only part of the economy that has grown every single year without fail in the S1000 ranking.
Commenting on the performance of the Communications/Transport/ Storage sector, Ms Chen said,
"After the Asian financial crisis, the strategy of developing Singapore's infrastructure to
make it an attractive venue for international trade and transport has been a priority of the
Government. Seven years of consistent growth has confirmed Singapore's reputation as a global
hub for transport, logistics and telecommunications services."
HOTELS RIDE A BOOM IN DEMAND
You know an industry sector is doing well when its profits leap by an amazing 181% in one year.
And that is exactly what Singapore's Hotels and Food Establishments sector has achieved within
the S1000 ranking.
Turnover is up by 24.0%. Clearly several major conferences and international meetings
in Singapore attracted a legion of new tourists to the Republic.
And the price people are prepared to pay for a room has clearly skyrocketed
with demand. This trend looks set to continue with the Formula One in 2008
and the opening of the two new integrated resorts.
MAY I BE OF SERVICE?
Promoting the growth of a strong financial and services sector has delivered real
benefits to the Singapore economy. Two of the best performing sectors in this year's
S1000 ranking are the Services and Financial sectors. These service-based sectors have
experienced double digit increases in both profits and turnover.
In General Services, turnover is up by 18.7% and profits are up by 25.6%.
While this is an excellent achievement, it is overshadowed by Financial
Services which has increased sales by 24.3% and profits by a superb 52.3%.
The growth in the various service sectors is encouraging for Singapore as it signifies
a diversification in the economy away from its traditional manufacturing and wholesale base.
MANUFACTURING HAS ITS CHALLENGES AND ITS GEMS
In a set of results that confirm a booming Singapore economy, the manufacturing
sector stands out this year as the only sector that has shown a decline in both
turnover and profits. Compared to the previous ranking period S1000 (Sales) combined
turnover dropped 8.3%, with combined absolute profits down by 41.0%.
SME manufacturers appear to be undergoing challenging times as well, with
turnover down 17.1% and profits decreased by 32.1% compared to last year.
"The performance of the manufacturing sector is primarily the result of the world-wide increase
in the cost of oil and other raw materials. Increases in demand for raw materials has sent prices
of commodities skyrocketing, so it is no surprise that Singapore's manufacturing sector is feeling
the effect of these global cost increases. In addition, there was a weak global demand for drugs
and electronics over the period," Ms Chen said
ABOUT THE RANKINGS
The S1000 and SME500 are ranked and published by DP Information Group with
Ernst and Young Singapore as Co-Producers. The S1000 and SME500 are supported
by SPRING Singapore, IE Singapore, the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA),
The Business Times and the key sponsor is HSBC.
This year's ranking is one of the most comprehensive analyses ever undertaken of
Singapore's corporate sector. More than 8000 audited financial results were examined
to determine which companies made the final lists.
2008 SINGAPORE 1000 AND SME 500 AWARD CEREMONY AND DINNER - "PROUDLY, SINGAPORE"
The S1000 and SME500 Awards presentation will be held on
Friday January 18, 2008 (6pm) at The Island Ballroom,
The Shangri-la Hotel Singapore. The Guest of Honour is Mr Lee Yi Shyan,
Minister of State for Trade and Industry.
A total of 44 awards will be presented. They are as follows:-
. Singapore 1000: Honorary Awards (3 companies this year - for outstanding 3-year consecutive recipient of same award)
. Singapore 1000: Sales/Turnover Excellence in 7 Industries
. Singapore 1000: Sales/Turnover Growth Excellence in 7 Industries
. Singapore 1000: Net Profit Excellence in 7 Industries
. Singapore 1000: Return on Equity Excellence in 7 Industries
. Singapore SME 500: Sales/Turnover Excellence (5 awards)
. Singapore SME 500: Net Profit Excellence (5 awards)
. Singapore SME 500: Promising SMEs (3 categories of crossing the $10 million, $20 million and $50 million marks)
____________________________________________________
CONTACT: Matthew Shaw April Ng
Rubicon Consulting DP Information Group
P: (65) 6465 3029 P: (65) 6507 2340
H: (65) 9851 9340 H: (65) 9820 1080
matthew@rubicon.com.sg april@dpgroup.com.sg
_____________________________________________________
SINGAPORE 1000 - THE AWARD WINNERS
Singapore 1000 : Honorary Award
The Singapore 1000 Honorary award is presented to companies that have achieved
the same award for 3 consecutive years .
1. Sales/Turnover Excellence – Wholesale
- SHELL EASTERN TRADING (PTE) LTD
2. Net Profit Excellence - Communications/Transport/Storage
SINGAPORE TELECOMMUNICATIONS LIMITED
3. Sales/Turnover Excellence – Finance
TOSHIBA CAPITAL (ASIA) LTD
SINGAPORE 1000 : Sales Turnover Excellence Awards by Industry (7 Industries)
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Biz Class
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Co Name
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Sales
Rank
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Sales
Current SGD ‘000
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Comm/
Tpt/ Storage
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SINGAPORE AIRLINES LIMITED
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10
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$14,494,400
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Finance
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DBS GROUP HOLDINGS LTD
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21
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$9,797,000
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Mfg
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MOTOROLA ELECTRONICS PTE LTD
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31
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$8,317,081
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Retail
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COLD STORAGE SINGAPORE (1983) PTE LTD
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182
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$1,187,154
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Services
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WILMAR INTERNATIONAL LIMITED
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30
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$8,399,243
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Hotels
/ Food Estb
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HOTEL PROPERTIES LIMITED
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473
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$355,397
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Wholesale
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BP SINGAPORE PTE. LIMITED
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2
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$48,289,388
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SINGAPORE 1000 :: Sales Turnover Growth Excellence Awards in Industry (7 Industries)
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Biz Class
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Co Name
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Sales
Rank |
Sales
Current SGD '000 |
Sales
Previous SGD'000
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Turnover
Growth
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Comm/
Tpt/ Storage
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WESTERN
BULK PTE. LTD.
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868 |
$144,533 |
$6,843
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2012.13%
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Finance
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UBS
SECURITIES PTE. LTD.
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541 |
$297,479 |
$25,173
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1081.74%
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Mfg
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EEMS
ASIA PTE. LTD.
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869 |
$144,040 |
$23,829
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504.47%
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Retail
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REPUBLIC
AUTO PTE. LTD.
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597 |
$257,259 |
$172,275
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49.33%
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Services
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BARCLAYS
CAPITAL GLOBAL SERVICES SINGAPORE PTE. LTD
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659 |
$220,805 |
$120,789
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82.80%
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Hotels
/ Food Estb
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ORCHARD
PARADE HOLDINGS LIMITED
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902 |
$138,284 |
$59,485
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132.47%
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Wholesale
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MERCURIA
ENERGY TRADING PTE. LTD.
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249 |
$841,177 |
$185
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454590.27%
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SINGAPORE 1000 : Net Profit Excellence Award in Industry (7 Industries)
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Biz Class
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Co Name
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Net
Profit Rank
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Net
Profit Current
SGD
‘000
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Comm/
Tpt/ Storage
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SINGAPORE AIRLINES LIMITED
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6
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$2,202,400
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Finance
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UNITED OVERSEAS BANK LIMITED
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2
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$2,625,348
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Mfg
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IBM SINGAPORE PTE LTD
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24
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$830,123
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Retail
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LVMH FASHION (SINGAPORE) PTE. LTD.
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192
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$82,120
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Services
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SINGAPORE PRESS HOLDINGS LIMITED
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$428,344
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Wholesale
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SHELL EASTERN PETROLEUM (PTE) LTD
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11
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$
1,715,860
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Hotels
/ Food Estb
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GOODWOOD PARK HOTEL LIMITED
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5
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$
2,248,711
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SINGAPORE 1000 : ROE Excellence in Industry (7 Industries)
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Industry
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Co Name
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Net Profit
Current
SGD '000
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Average Shareholders' Funds
SGD '000
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ROE
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Comm/ Tpt/ Storage
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STARHUB MOBILE PTE LTD
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$ 227,894
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$ 107,467
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212.06%
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Finance
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TARGET ASSET MANAGEMENT PTE LTD
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$ 32,285
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$ 13,758
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234.66%
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Hotels / Food Establishments
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YUM! RESTAURANTS ASIA PTE LTD
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$ 95,571
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$ 73,459
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130.10%
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Mfg
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STAHL ASIA PTE LTD
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$ 372,622
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$ 25,783
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1445.22%
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Retail
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WING TAI CLOTHING PTE LTD
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$ 6,525
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$ 1,585
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411.67%
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Services
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JOBSTREET.COM PTE LTD
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$ 11,327
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$ 3,376
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335.52%
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Wholesale
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CHEMOIL INTERNATIONAL PTE. LTD.
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$ 54,130.85
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$ 37,682.34
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143.65%
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SINGAPORE SME 500-THE AWARD WINNERS
SINGAPORE SME 500:Sales Turnover Excellence Awards
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Sales
Rank
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Co Name
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Biz
Class
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Sales
Current SGD ‘000
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4
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CITYSTATE TRAVEL PTE. LTD.
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Services - Entertainment / Leisure
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$73,950
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6
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DAIEI PAPERS (S.A.) PTE LTD
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Wholesale - Paper Products | | |
