มาดูความร่ำรวยของเจ้า Temasek กันครับ

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Temasek Profit Rises 71% to Record S$12.8 Billion (Update3)

By Linus Chua and Yoolim Lee

Sept. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Temasek Holdings Pte, Singapore's state-owned investment company, said full-year profit surged 71 percent to a record S$12.8 billion ($8.2 billion) on earnings from banking and other investments and gains from stake sales.

Total assets rose 24 percent to S$129 billion in the year to March 31, according to the company's 2006 annual report released today.

Temasek, set up three decades ago to nurture Singapore industries, is reaping rewards from investments overseas which now account for 56 percent of its portfolio. The purchase of stakes in Bank of China Ltd. and China Construction Bank bolstered earnings in the past year, and the company had one- time gains from selling shares in Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. and other companies.

``Singapore has to go overseas because it's such a tiny island,'' said Hugh Young, who helps manage more than $20 billion in assets as Singapore-based managing director of Aberdeen Asset Management Ltd. ``The logic is absolutely correct.''

Temasek spent S$21 billion in the year through March, 62 percent more than a year earlier, buying stakes in companies ranging from Shin Corp., a Bangkok-based phone company that owns Thailand's biggest cellular operator, to Dongfeng Motor Group Co., which makes cars in China with Nissan Motor Co. and PSA Peugeot Citroen.

`Expect Bumps'

``We're investing on the back of emerging economies with strong growth,'' Executive Director Simon Israel, 53, said in an interview. ``We're investing in the sectors that are real proxies for that growth.''

The company had a one-year total shareholder's return, measuring dividends received from investments and changes in the market value of its portfolio, of 24 percent, matching that of the MSCI AC Asia Pacific excluding Japan Index and outperforming the Singapore benchmark Straits Times Index, according to Bloomberg data.

Shares in Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing's Hutchison Whampoa Ltd., which is invested in ports, phone companies, real estate developments and energy, rose 7.4 percent over that period. U.S. billionaire Warren Buffett's investment firm Berkshire Hathaway Inc. gained 3.9 percent during that period.

Temasek, owned by Singapore's finance ministry, is maintaining a ``healthy'' annual dividend yield of more than 7 percent to its shareholder, according to the report. Singapore Telecommunications and other publicly traded companies make up 80 percent of assets, it said.

Asian Growth

Temasek's growth was underpinned by its exposure to Asia, where China and India, the world's two fastest-growing major economies, are driving growth. Bank of China, in which Temasek has a 5.65 percent stake, last week reported first-half profit rose 28 percent to a record 19.5 billion yuan ($2.5 billion), buoyed by rising demand for loans.

Temasek also raised S$13 billion from selling down stakes in companies, according to the 118-page ``Temasek Review 2006.''

``The growing economies in Asia continue to hold much promise for the long term, though we can expect bumps along the way,'' Chairman S. Dhanabalan, 69, said in the report. Temasek is maintaining a ``cautious medium-term outlook for Asia,'' he added.

The Asian Development Bank today raised its growth forecast for Asia excluding Japan for the second time this year, predicting the region's economy will expand 7.7 percent in 2006, led by China's 10.4 percent growth. Risks include the possibility of a slowdown in the U.S., which would affect demand for Asian goods and services, the bank said.

Financial Services

Temasek, run by 53-year-old Chief Executive Ho Ching, said financial services swelled to 35 percent of assets at the end of March, from 21 percent a year earlier. The company owns shares in ICICI Bank Ltd., India's second-biggest lender, and banks in Indonesia, Singapore, South Korea and Pakistan.

It became the biggest foreign investor in Chinese banks in the year through March 31, buying 4.65 percent of Bank of China, the nation's second-biggest lender, and No. 3 China Construction.

``China has undertaken bold measures to strengthen its banking system,'' Dhanabalan said in the report. ``The management leadership and political commitment to reform and restructure their leading banks have also been impressive -- these will have significant long-term benefits for the Chinese economy.''

Emerging Asia

Telecommunications and media investments fell to 26 percent of Temasek's assets from 33 percent a year earlier, because the overall portfolio grew faster than its expansion in the industry.

Financial, telecommunications and media investments ``provide broad-based exposure to emerging Asian economies,'' Temasek said in a statement released alongside the annual review.

``If you look at what Singapore is good at, financial, transport and logistics, telecoms, those are the things they're moving into and it makes absolute sense,'' said Aberdeen's Young.

Transport-related holdings fell to 13 percent of assets from 17 percent, while real estate, energy, infrastructure and engineering assets accounted for the remainder of the portfolio.

Investments in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries other than South Korea fell to 20 percent of the portfolio from 30 percent. Investments in Asia, excluding Japan and Singapore, rose from 19 percent to 34 percent as the investment company expanded in China and India.

Singapore Exposure

Temasek said the breakdown of assets in different markets reflects the holdings of its units, not just the headquarters of the companies it has invested in. Singapore Telecommunications' assets in companies in India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand, for example, count towards Temasek's assets outside Singapore.

Temasek increased its total assets in Singapore to S$57 billion from S$50 billion. The group controls seven of Singapore's 10 biggest companies by sales, including Singapore Airlines Ltd., the world's second-biggest carrier, Keppel Corp., the largest oil-rig builder, and DBS Group Holdings Ltd., Southeast Asia's biggest bank.

It is maintaining a long-term target of having just one third of its investments in Singapore, one third elsewhere in Asia, with the remainder in developed nations.

Standard Chartered, Shin

Still, the company's aggressive expansion hasn't been without ``bumps'' in the past. Since Temasek announced an investment in Standard Chartered Plc in March, in a deal completed three months later, the U.K. bank's shares have slumped 13 percent, compared with a 1.2 percent decline in the FTSE All-Share Banks Index and the MSCI AC Asia Financials Index.

The Temasek-led acquisition of Shin Corp. from Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra meanwhile led to public protests after Thaksin's family netted a tax-free $1.9 billion from the deal.

Thaksin called a snap election that was boycotted by most opposition parties. He won the April 2 poll, which was later declared annulled by a Thai court. The political turmoil has led to a 27 percent drop in Shin Corp. shares this year, compared with a 1.7 percent decline in Thailand's SET index.

Shin Corp.'s ``fundamentals are solid and therefore, we plan to take a long-term view,'' Israel said of the transaction.

The 53-year-old New Zealander, former Asia Pacific chairman of Paris-based Groupe Danone, joined Temasek in July to oversee the company's investment strategy and is the first foreign member of Temasek's board of directors.

``One has to have a sense of caution,'' Israel said. ``It's wise to be cautious, but you should not infer to that that we're not as active.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Yoolim Lee in Singapore at [email protected] ; Linus Chua in Singapore at [email protected] .

Last Updated: September 6, 2006 08:07 EDT

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