ComfortDelGro

[winston]

Not vested.

ComfortDelGro buys UK taxi firm

SINGAPORE - Singapore bus and taxi operator ComfortDelGro Corp said on Thursday it has bought a taxi operator in Britain for 800,000 pounds.

The purchase by ComfortDelGro's 51-per cent-owned unit CityFleet (UK) will give the Singapore firm control of Liverpool-based Merseyside Radio Meter Cabs Ltd, which operates a radio circuit with a total fleet of 400 licenced taxis.

Merseyside Radio, which was founded in 1958, is better known in Liverpool as Merseycabs. It caters to both corporate and individual clients. -- REUTERS

[winston]

ComfortDelGro's Q3 net profit falls 18% to $48.3m
By SAMUEL EE

High energy costs and diesel subsidies to taxi hirers put the brakes on ComfortDelGro Corp's net profit, dragging it down 18.1 per cent to $48.3 million from a year ago.

But revenue for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2008 rose 5.2 per cent to $811.5 million on organic growth in Singapore, China, Australia and Vietnam. The land transport giant has extensive bus and taxi businesses around the world. It also operates the North-east MRT Line in Singapore.

Q3 operating expenses rose 8.2 per cent to $733.6 million due mainly to increases in fuel and electricity costs, purchases of diesel for resale, provision of accident insurance claims, payment for credit and Nets card transactions and diesel subsidies. But these were offset by lower vehicle leasing charges, lower repair and maintenance, and the writeback of pension provisions.

ComfortDelGro said overseas turnover accounted for 42.2 per cent of total group turnover, down from nearly 48 per cent a year ago.

Q3 earnings per share dropped to 2.32 cents from 2.83 cents previously.

For the first nine months ended Sept 30, 2008, net profit was down 10.2 per cent to $155.3 million, while revenue was 5.6 per cent higher at $2.36 billion.

Earnings per share for the first three quarters was 7.45 cents - down from 8.31 cents previously.

[winston]

ComfortDelGro buys Aussie bus firm for A$149m
By SAMUEL EE

ComfortDelGro will pay A$149.2 million (US$93.7 million) for the fourth largest bus operator in Victoria, Australia as the group moves steadily to accomplish its goal of becoming a 'significant operator' in the Australian bus sector.

The land transport giant acquired the Kefford Group through its 51 per cent-owned subsidiary ComfortDelGro Cabcharge Pty Ltd after a four-month long closed tender which attracted Australian and international land transport operators. The acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals.

As the largest provider of bus routes in the western suburbs, ComfortDelGro said Kefford stands to benefit from the Victorian government's announcement of a A$10.5 billion plan to improve the public transport system over 10 years.

[millionairemind]

November 21, 2008, 12.51 pm (Singapore time)

Buy ComfortDelgro, target price $1.82/share: KimEng
By ANGELA TAN

SINGAPORE - COmfortDelgro's A$149 million (US$94 million) acquisition of Australian bus operator Kefford Group, announced this week can be considered a coup, Kim Eng Research said on Friday.

The research house is calling a buy on ComfortDelgro, with a target price of $1.82 (US$1.19) a share.

'We have not yet adjusted our forecasts for ComfortDelgro as the acquisition is subject to regulatory approval. If it goes through, we estimate a 2-3 per cent boost to FY09F earnings. With $120 million in net cash, ComfortDelgro will not be financially stretched,' the research report said.

Privately-held Kefford had held a closed tender that drew interest from both international and Australian land transport companies. Now Victoria joins NSW as the second Australian state in which ComfortDelgro has bus operations.

Kefford has a 16 per cent share of the Victoria bus market and, through a fleet of 328 buses and six depots, operates 66 routes under long term contracts in Melbourne, Geelong and Ballarat, the three largest cities in Victoria.

Fare and ridership risks are borned by the government, the bulk of Kefford's route contracts expires only in 2018 and there is potential for market share upside via consolidation. Australian margin is higher than Singapore and we understand Kefford's margin is even higher.

[millionairemind]

ComfortDelGro Corporation
Dec 30 close: $1.48
CIMB-GK Research, Dec 29

ACQUISITIONS in China: ComfortDelGro announced that its 55 per cent-owned subsidiary, Beijing Jin Jian Taxi Services Co in China, has acquired a 100 per cent stake in Jia Run Taxi Co, a taxi operator in Beijing which owns 342 taxi licences and vehicles.

This will increase ComfortDelGro's Beijing taxi fleet to 5,421 vehicles and its total fleet in China to 13,000 vehicles. The purchase consideration is 76 million yuan ($16.2 million), based on the net asset value of the company. The acquisition will be financed by bank borrowings.

ComfortDelGro also increased its stake in Chongqing ComfortDelGro Driving Training Co from 80 per cent to 90 per cent. This is Chongqing's largest driver training school offering driving lessons for various classes of vehicles. It has a fleet of 110 vehicles catering to an annual student enrolment of about 10,000.

The purchase consideration of the additional 10 per cent stake is 6.4 million yuan, based on the net asset value of the company, and will be funded internally. So far, ComfortDelGro has invested 57.6 million yuan in this venture.

We see both investments as positive as we had earlier alluded to a growing number of reasonably priced merger and acquisition (M&A) opportunities amid an uncertain economic environment. While these investments are small by themselves, they are an incremental increase in terms of an expanding China footprint. In addition, both investments were based on the net asset values with no premium attached. They are by far the cheapest investments made by ComfortDelGro in the last two years which has seen soaring valuations.

ComfortDelGro has set itself a target of 70 per cent mix of overseas revenue within the next five to seven years. Undeniably, there will likely be more M&A projects undertaken by ComfortDelGro as organic growth will only be able to contribute incrementally. As at end-September, ComfortDelGro has net cash of $82 million; and notwithstanding the current difficult credit situation, it is well positioned to gear up should large and attractive opportunities emerge.

Maintain 'outperform': We are not making any changes to our forecasts given the small size of the investment. ComfortDelGro is expected to maintain its performance, supported by ridership growth and steady vehicle inspection and automotive engineering businesses in Singapore, and continued growth in its China bus and taxi operations.

Management is cautious about volatile foreign exchange rates, which have an adverse impact, and weakness in the UK and Australian operations during this recession. However, retreating oil prices and improving ridership for its Singapore operations should mitigate the impact of a weaker pound and Australian dollar against the Sing-dollar. With the bleak outlook for 2009, management is expected to be more active in exploring M&A opportunities, as in this China acquisition. Maintain TP of $1.97. This factors in possible earnings risks from volatile forex. Dividend yield has been consistently 5-6 per cent, providing good support.
OUTPERFORM

[millionairemind]

Published February 13, 2009

ComfortDelGro's full-year profit falls 10% to $200m
The land transport firm says operating profit slipped 17% to $278m

By SAMUEL EE

HIGHER operating expenses put the brakes on ComfortDelGro's net profit for the full year ended Dec 31, 2008, causing it to fall 10.3 per cent to $200.1 million, even as revenue grew 3.6 per cent to $3.13 billion.

The land transport giant said operating profit slipped 17.3 per cent to $278 million due mainly to the higher cost of fuel in the first three quarters of the year. For the full year, fuel and electricity costs jumped 31.8 per cent to $285.4 million.

Together with pricier fuel, higher payment for cashless transactions on increased turnover and a rise in taxi driver benefits pushed total operating expenses up 6.2 per cent to $2.85 billion. Earnings per share fell to 9.59 cents from 10.73 cents.

A final one-tier tax-exempt dividend of 2.4 cents per share has been proposed. In addition to the normal interim one-tier tax-exempt dividend of 2.6 cents paid earlier, the total dividend for 2008 would be five cents per share if the final dividend is approved.

ComfortDelGro said the operating profit of its overseas businesses as a proportion of total group operating profit rose to 47.3 per cent in 2008 from 45.8 per cent the year before.

Turnover for its bus business slipped 0.4 per cent to $1.5 billion because of the translation effect of the weaker British pound and Australian dollar.

Still, the UK operations accounted for over 71 per cent of total overseas bus turnover, while Australia made up 23 per cent. China's share was 6 per cent.

In Singapore, listed unit SBS Transit's (SBST) net profit for the full year ended Dec 31, 2008 fell 18.9 per cent to $40.58 million, hit by higher fuel and electricity costs, as well as lower interest income on investments. But SBST's revenue grew 8.9 per cent to $729.6 million due mainly to higher bus and rail fare revenue, along with higher rental income.

ComfortDelGro's taxi business recorded a 2.5 per cent hike in turnover to $945.3 million. In Singapore, turnover from taxis rose 10.3 per cent to $614.7 million on an increase in fleet size and cashless transactions.

But turnover from its overseas taxi operations fell 9.4 per cent to $330.6 million, mainly due to a 19 per cent decline in UK turnover to $209.3 million from the weaker pound and a drop in demand from corporate accounts. This was partially offset by increases in China and Vietnam.

The rail business chalked up a 15.7 per cent increase in turnover to $101.5 million on higher ridership for the North-east MRT Line and the Punggol and Sengkang LRTs. This is the first time turnover has crossed the $100 million mark.

Listed unit Vicom saw net profit for the full year ended Dec 31, 2008 rise 17 per cent to $15.8 million, thanks to improved volumes from its core businesses of vehicle inspection, and testing and inspection services.

The vehicle inspection unit of ComfortDelGro said total revenue rose 14.1 per cent to $73.8 million on higher revenue, with the significant increase in the testing and inspection services coming from the construction sector, marine and offshore, and oil and gas.

Looking ahead, ComfortDelGro managing director and group CEO Kua Hong Pak said 2009 will be 'unprecedented and very challenging'. 'Our focus is on how business trends are developing so as to better position ourselves.'

[winston]

From DBS:-

4Q/FY08 results for ComfortDelgro came in within our expectations but a lower dividend payout of 52% was a
surprise. This translates into dividend yield of 3.8% for FY08 vs 6.9% in the previous year.

It seems like management is conserving cash for acquisitions, which should be beneficial over the long term, given its track record. Maintain Buy, TP: S$1.57

[millionairemind]

Singapore queues for London buses
National Express, the transport group, has been holding detailed talks about the sale of its London bus operations to one of Singapore's largest firms.

By Mark Kleinman
Last Updated: 11:12PM GMT 14 Feb 2009

Comfort DelGro, which is the world's second-biggest land transport company, is understood to have approached National Express about a deal that would have valued the division at about £50m. People close to the talks said they had been discontinued in recent weeks but could be revived as part of a review of National Express's portfolio of assets.

National Express, which runs the InterCity East Coast rail line and is the biggest coach operator in Britain, declined to comment this weekend on the talks with Comfort DelGro.

The company, which is led by Richard Bowker, is examining options to raise capital, including through a rights issue. The sale of non-core assets, such as the London bus operations, is another potential route to generating funds ahead of a deadline a year from now to refinance almost £500m of debt.

The London operation, which includes a number of routes into the centre of the capital, is viewed as peripheral by senior executives because the company lags in the market behind competitors such as Arriva and FirstGroup.

Last week, analysts at JP Morgan warned that Mr Bowker may be forced to axe National Express's dividend in conjunction with a discounted rights issue.

The economic downturn has prompted concern about revenue performance in the company's crucial rail division, which also includes the C2C and East Anglia networks.

[ichew]

http://info.sgx.com/webcorannc.nsf/vwpr ... enDocument

Lim Jit Poh added 100 lots at 1.29.

I feel that this is one stk tat didnt got played up enough in this bull-run
Laggard?
Anyway it returns to its Mar-09 lows now ...

[memphisb]

I like the way comfortdelgro is buying up overseas esp its related to their core business.

The lack of action is probaby due to the dividend and massive spending overseas.

Vicom and SBSTransit is also very defensive.