He warned that traders should not let their guard down because the volatility In a report yesterday, Morgan Stanley analyst Mat- thew Wilson noted that the By Alvin Foo SINGAPORE has improved its al- ready strong standing in a list compiled by Forbes magazine of the top 200 Asian firms with an annual turnover of below US$1 billion (S$1.51 billion). A total of 20 Singapore compa- nies have made it into the latest list – up from 19 last year. The annual list, which was re- leased yesterday, draws from more than 22,500 listed firms in the Asia-Pacific region. The firms are vetted for con- sistent growth in both sales and profits over three years. Singapore’s 20 companies meant it was sixth among econo- mies in the region with the most entries on the top 200 list. Taiwan topped the list with 41 companies which were mainly from the information technology sector. Mainland China was sec- ond with 23, while Hong Kong and Japan were tied for the third spot with 22 each. South Korea was fifth with 21 firms. The share value of last year’s 200 firms surged by 47 per cent for the period ended Aug 30, far better than the 22 per cent gain for the comparable FTSE Asia- Pacific Small Cap Index. Three of last year’s 200 have graduated to the big league as their sales now top US$1 billion. Machinery, mining and manu- facturing firms still dominate the list, but heavy industry has ceded ground to glitzy consumer goods newcomers catering to the re- gion’s rising middle class. Eight in 10 companies on the list are mak- ing their debut. The 20 Singapore companies came from a wide range of sec- tors – from food and beverage (Food Empire Holdings) to air- port logistics (Inter-Roller Engi- neering), retail (Hongguo Interna- tional Holdings) and health care (Raffles Medical Group). Among the 20 were two helmed by brothers – Mr Chew Hua Seng, the chairman of Raf- fles Education, and Mr Patrick Chew, Midas Holdings’ chief ex- ecutive. It was double joy for Mr Chew Hua Seng, who was recently named as Singapore’s 10th rich- est person with a net worth of US$595 million. His firm has schools as far afield as India, Mon- golia, New Zealand and Vietnam, and he expects its sales to keep growing at 40 per cent a year. Also in the celebrated list was Rotary Engineering. Yesterday, there was more good news for the Singapore oil and gas infra- structure services firm. It said that it expects to win contracts of up to $300 million from oil giant Exxon Mobil in Sin- gapore. Another firm is Food Empire, which makes coffee beverages. It has secured a foothold in Russia for its coffee mixes and set up its first manufacturing plant outside Asia last year that will supply di- rectly to the Russian market. [email protected]KEPPEL CORP DIRECTOR SELLS 100,000 SHARES KEPPEL Corp senior executive director Choo Chiau Beng has sold 100,000 shares in the off- shore and marine, property and infrastructure conglomerate. The sale was made on the open market on Wednesday at $14 a share and announced the same day. The trade lowers his direct stake from some 1.38 million shares to about 1.28 million – roughly 0.081 per cent of issued share capital. Mr Choo, 59, also holds a deemed stake of 200,000 shares. He was appointed to the board in 1983 and is the chair- man and chief executive of Kep- pel Offshore & Marine, as well as a member of Keppel Corp’s executive committee. The recent surge in crude oil prices to an all-time high of US$82 a barrel has fuelled the belief that the demand for explo- ration equipment will continue to grow at a strong pace. Keppel Corp, which is a ma- 20 Singapore firms make it to Forbes’ list of top 200 in Asia Taiwan leads the pack with 41 entries; Republic is ranked sixth in the region DIRECTORS' TRADES No. of entries Economy ST GRAPHIC PHOTOS: ST FILE PHOTO, BT FILE PHOTO SOURCE: FORBES Taiwan China Hong Kong Japan South Korea Singapore India Australia Malaysia Thailand New Zealand Pakistan The Philippines Sri Lanka 41 23 22 22 21 20 17 12 9 5 4 2 1 1 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 3 3 2 1 FORBES ASIA 200 BEST UNDER A BILLION » Among the 20 Singapore firms which found their way to this year’s list were two helmed by brothers - Mr Chew Hua Seng (right), the chairman of Raffles Education, and Mr Patrick Chew, the chief executive of Midas. Another firm on the list was Singapore oil and gas infrastructure services firm Rotary Engineering, helmed by chairman Chia Kim Piow. 7 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 S A O S N D J F M A M J J 2006 $ 2007 KEPPEL Top Rises (¢) Sept 20 CENTS + % » TAKING STOCK Late selling spree H29 MONEY THE STRAITS TIMES FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21 2007
Transcript
By Jessica Cheam
SINGAPORE is set to become theAsian hub for the fast-growing fran-chising industry – where successfulbusiness templates are sold on tofranchisee business operators.
Minister of State for Financeand Transport Lim Hwee Hua saidyesterday that the Republic has be-come the “first port of call” formaster franchisors in the region.This is due to its pro-business poli-cies, good infrastructure and em-phasis on intellectual propertyrights protection, she said.
She was speaking at the openingof the Franchising & Licensing Asia
2007 exhibition, held yesterday atthe Suntec International Conven-tion and Exhibition Centre. Morethan 100 exhibitors and 3,000 visi-tors from 18 nations are attendingthe event, making it an ideal venuefor business networking.
The chairman of Singapore’sFranchising and Licensing Associa-tion (FLA), Mr Douglas Foo, saidthe industry here has grown at 10to 15 per cent a year in the pastfive years. Now, more than 30,000franchisees operate in Singapore,with a combined annual turnoverof $5.48 billion, added Mr Foo.
Mrs Lim noted FLA’s recent ef-forts to move towards a knowl-edge-based economy, by taking
branding and licensing under itswing. The Intellectual Property Of-fice of Singapore, she added, isworking to help businesses under-stand intellectual property issues.
At the opening of the three-dayexhibition, now in its second year,22 companies signed franchiseagreements. Among the foreigncompanies that linked up with localones was Korea’s Hankook Cosmet-ics. Some big names such as GloriaJean’s Coffee, Starbucks and Carl’sJr already have a strong presencehere and in the region.
Today’s exhibition will be fol-lowed by a gala dinner, duringwhich the winners of the franchis-ing awards will be announced.
By Goh Eng Yeow
EUPHORIA over the inter-est rate cut by the UnitedStates Federal Reserve evap-orated late yesterday as about of selling sent shares inSingapore tumbling.
Stocks here had movedsharply higher on Wednes-day following the much-awaited cut.
Things started well yester-day as the benchmarkStraits Times Index (STI)
opened on a high note. Butselling pressure eventuallywore down the few buyersstill fired up by the rate cut.
This culminated in a sell-down just before the marketclosed at 5pm. The STI end-ed down 41.9 points at3,552.46 as nervous inves-tors winced at the weaknessin European markets.
For most traders though,what was more significantwere signs that the marketwas returning to its earlierlistlessness, as the adrena-
line boost from the rate cutwore off.
Market volume fell be-low the two billion level to1.91 billion shares worth$2.47 billion. There were271 gainers and 484 losers.
“The STI’s 117-pointgain on Wednesday was astrong signal that the marketis capable of upward volatili-ty, just as much as it hasbeen infamous for its down-ward spiral in the last twomonths,” said Mr NajeebJarhom, AmFraser Securi-ties’ research head.
He warned that tradersshould not let their guarddown because the volatilityis far from over.
“The cut in rates could im-ply that the US economy isnot in good shape, and thatsome bad news could be un-veiled during the US report-ing season next month.”
Among the blue chips,DBS Group Holdings attract-ed strong buying interest af-ter the bank unveiled a $400million share buyback pro-gramme. The counter rose30 cents to $20.40 on 19.3million shares traded.
But OCBC Bank fell 10cents to $8.80, while UnitedOverseas Bank dropped 20cents to $21.10 – a spilloverof the negative sentimentspooking European banks,as investors agonised overthe fate of troubled Britishlender Northern Rock.
In a report yesterday,Morgan Stanley analyst Mat-thew Wilson noted that thethree local banks would en-joy support from the strongSingapore economy, whilefears of a US recession willtemporarily abate with theFed rate cut.
Among other blue chips,SingTel dropped 20 cents, or5 per cent, to $3.78 on aheavy volume of 44.66 mil-lion shares. Deutsche Bankhad cut its rating on thestock from “buy” to “hold”.
On the broader market,penny stocks also came un-der selling pressure as trad-ers retreated.
Aztech Systems fell 15.2per cent to 42 cents, with10.5 million shares traded.The firm said it was “notaware of any possible expla-nation for the substantial de-crease in share price”[email protected]
By Alvin Foo
SINGAPORE has improved its al-ready strong standing in a listcompiled by Forbes magazine ofthe top 200 Asian firms with anannual turnover of below US$1billion (S$1.51 billion).
A total of 20 Singapore compa-nies have made it into the latestlist – up from 19 last year.
The annual list, which was re-leased yesterday, draws frommore than 22,500 listed firms inthe Asia-Pacific region.
The firms are vetted for con-sistent growth in both sales andprofits over three years.
Singapore’s 20 companiesmeant it was sixth among econo-mies in the region with the mostentries on the top 200 list.
Taiwan topped the list with 41companies which were mainlyfrom the information technologysector. Mainland China was sec-
ond with 23, while Hong Kongand Japan were tied for the thirdspot with 22 each. South Koreawas fifth with 21 firms.
The share value of last year’s200 firms surged by 47 per centfor the period ended Aug 30, farbetter than the 22 per cent gainfor the comparable FTSE Asia-Pacific Small Cap Index.
Three of last year’s 200 havegraduated to the big league astheir sales now top US$1 billion.
Machinery, mining and manu-facturing firms still dominate thelist, but heavy industry has cededground to glitzy consumer goodsnewcomers catering to the re-gion’s rising middle class. Eight in10 companies on the list are mak-ing their debut.
The 20 Singapore companiescame from a wide range of sec-tors – from food and beverage(Food Empire Holdings) to air-port logistics (Inter-Roller Engi-neering), retail (Hongguo Interna-tional Holdings) and health care(Raffles Medical Group).
Among the 20 were twohelmed by brothers – Mr ChewHua Seng, the chairman of Raf-fles Education, and Mr PatrickChew, Midas Holdings’ chief ex-ecutive.
It was double joy for Mr ChewHua Seng, who was recentlynamed as Singapore’s 10th rich-est person with a net worth ofUS$595 million. His firm hasschools as far afield as India, Mon-golia, New Zealand and Vietnam,and he expects its sales to keepgrowing at 40 per cent a year.
Also in the celebrated list wasRotary Engineering. Yesterday,there was more good news forthe Singapore oil and gas infra-structure services firm.
It said that it expects to wincontracts of up to $300 millionfrom oil giant Exxon Mobil in Sin-gapore.
Another firm is Food Empire,which makes coffee beverages. Ithas secured a foothold in Russiafor its coffee mixes and set up itsfirst manufacturing plant outsideAsia last year that will supply di-rectly to the Russian market.
KEPPEL CORP DIRECTORSELLS 100,000 SHARESKEPPEL Corp senior executivedirector Choo Chiau Beng hassold 100,000 shares in the off-shore and marine, property andinfrastructure conglomerate.
The sale was made on theopen market on Wednesday at$14 a share and announced thesame day.
The trade lowers his directstake from some 1.38 millionshares to about 1.28 million –roughly 0.081 per cent of issuedshare capital. Mr Choo, 59, alsoholds a deemed stake of200,000 shares.
He was appointed to theboard in 1983 and is the chair-man and chief executive of Kep-pel Offshore & Marine, as wellas a member of Keppel Corp’sexecutive committee.
The recent surge in crude oilprices to an all-time high ofUS$82 a barrel has fuelled thebelief that the demand for explo-ration equipment will continueto grow at a strong pace.
Keppel Corp, which is a ma-jor supplier to the offshore andmarine industry, is set to be aprime beneficiary of thisgrowth.
In July, it announced arecord half-year net profit of$510 million, thanks in part tobooming business at its oil rigand shipbuilding unit.
The conglomerate said itsfirst-half net profit rose 39.5 percent from a year earlier andcame on the back of a 40.5 percent surge in revenues to $4.5billion.
Yesterday, Keppel Corpshares closed 20 cents downfrom its all-time high of $14 asat Wednesday’s close, withsome 3.24 million units exchang-ing hands.
ALVIN FOO
20 Singapore firms make itto Forbes’ list of top 200 in AsiaTaiwan leads thepack with 41 entries;Republic is rankedsixth in the region
DIRECTORS'
TRADES
No. of entriesEconomy
ST GRAPHIC PHOTOS: ST FILE PHOTO, BT FILE PHOTO SOURCE: FORBES
TaiwanChinaHong Kong Japan South KoreaSingapore India AustraliaMalaysia ThailandNew ZealandPakistanThe PhilippinesSri Lanka
4123222221201712
95421114
13121110
9
876
53321
FORBES ASIA 200 BEST UNDER A BILLION»
Among the 20 Singapore firms which found their way to this year’s list were two helmed by brothers − Mr Chew Hua Seng (right), the chairman of Raffles Education, and Mr Patrick Chew, the chief executive of Midas.
Another firm on the list was Singapore oil and gas infrastructure services firm Rotary Engineering, helmed by chairman Chia Kim Piow.
7
141312
11109
8
SAOS N D J F M A M J J2006
$
2007
KEPPEL
S’pore poised to becomeAsian hub for franchise sector
