SG Morning Highlights | Olam H2 profit falls 24.5% on higher net financing costs

Advancers / Decliners is 72 to 128, with 216.05 million securities worth S$155.45 million changing hands.

The continual "refreshing and updating" of jobs is to be expected in a dynamic and vibrant economy, as unproductive jobs become obsolete, Finance Minister Lawrence Wong said in his Budget debate round-up speech on Friday (Feb 24).

New, better, more productive roles will be created in their place, he said. These could be in the same companies or sectors where unproductive jobs were eliminated; they could also be with more successful and expanding employers in the same or other sectors, "that grow to take the place of the declining ones".

"This churn is an integral part of healthy economic growth," Wong told the House. "But it does create uncertainty for workers, because workers will need to reskill and upskill to stay relevant and take on new roles, be it in the same company or in a different company, or even in a different industry altogether."

Singapore has a tight fiscal position over the medium-term, said Finance Minister Lawrence Wong, as he noted the limitations of alternative revenue sources — particularly corporate taxes — that Members of Parliament (MPs) had raised earlier in the Budget debate.

Budget 2023 is a "delicate balancing act", said Wong in his round-up speech on Friday (Feb 24). The government wants a more sustainable fiscal position but cannot taper down support too quickly due to the uncertain economic outlook. And while helping Singaporeans tackle the cost of living, "we must be careful not to inadvertently generate more demand and worsen inflation".

Contrary to what Progress Singapore Party (PSP) Non-Constituency MP (NCMP) Leong Mun Wai suggested, the government does not have "fiscal slack", said Wong.

Singapore's tight fiscal position means the Republic must focus on "growing the economic pie" in order to have enough resources, even as the external environment becomes more challenging, Finance Minister Lawrence Wong said in his Budget debate round-up speech on Friday (Feb 24).

Contrary to the views of some Members of Parliament, Singapore has no "fiscal slack", said Wong, who is also Deputy Prime Minister.

He noted that public spending is set to rise to 20 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030, having already risen three percentage points from 2016 to 2020, to about 18 per cent.

The group said in a bourse filing on Monday (Feb 27) that this was due to higher finance costs, which had doubled over the period.

Revenue for the second half of the year showed a 9.5 per cent improvement from H2 2021, growing to S$26.5 billion from S$24.2 billion.

Revenue for the period came in at S$276 million, up 58.1 per cent from S$174.6 million.

The board of directors has recommended a first and final cash dividend of S$0.04 per ordinary share, as well as a special dividend of S$0.01 per share. The date payable, as well as the books closure date, will be announced in due course, the company said.

This took the group's full-year earnings to S$173.1 million, up 40.7 per cent from S$123 million.

Revenue for the period under review was up 9 per cent to S$1.9 billion from S$1.8 billion. Topline from ComfortDelGro's underlying businesses was partially offset by an "unfavourable" foreign currency translation of S$76 million from the weaker Australian dollar and the Sterling.

Foreign patients also returned to Singapore to seek medical treatment during the period, as Covid-19 restrictions eased and borders reopened, the healthcare services provider said on Monday (Feb 27).

Net profit for the six months ended Dec 31, 2022, stood at S$83.8 million, compared with S$44.7 million posted in the same period a year ago. This translates to an earnings per share (EPS) of S$0.0452, against an EPS of S$0.0239 in the year-ago period.

This was mainly due to a fair-value loss on subsidiaries' investment properties of S$6.6 million in the second half (H2), compared to a S$101.4 million fair-value gain recorded in H2 FY2021, SingLand said in a regulatory filing on Friday (Feb 24).

In a separate filing on the same day, the group also announced that veteran banker Wee Cho Yaw has retired as chairman, and will be replaced in the role by his son, Ee Lim.

This was due mainly to higher revenue growth from robust customer demand and the introduction of new products in the second half (H2), Venture said in a regulatory filing on Friday (Feb 24).

Earnings per share for H2 2022 stood at 67.1 Singapore cents per share, up from 59.1 Singapore cents per share in H2 2021.