Search the Community

tot of doing dat, maybe teach tuition part time for some pocket. got some savings but barely enuf. will take around 1.5yrs off. status is currently have a baby so family will be financially stress a bit as my wife will now be sole bread winner.

Taken from the Business Times today... Comfort quitting 2 businesses, 50 jobs may go Taxi operator's 9-mth profit jumps 40.5% to $72.6m By CHRISTOPHER TAN (SINGAPORE) Singapore Labour Foundation-linked Comfort Group is dumping its courier and car distribution businesses - a move expected to cost 50 or more jobs - despite posting another set of glowing financial results yesterday. In an apparent review of all 'non-core' activities in light of its proposed union with bus group DelGro Corp, Comfort said it would exit the two loss-making businesses on March 30. Analysts reckon there may be more streamlining to come. Last year, the group sold another business in Hong Kong, barely a year after buying into it. It has yet to receive full payment for the sale. It also sold NCH (Tampines), a venture that developed executive condos, last year. Comfort, which is reliant on the taxi business, yesterday posted a 40.5 per cent rise in net earnings to $72.6 million for the nine months ended Dec 31, 2002. Turnover was up 8.4 per cent at $369.9 million. Its profitability was boosted by the continued conversion of smaller taxis to bigger ones (which command higher rental from the drivers), as well as Singapore's lowered corporate tax rate. The latter resulted in a $6.8 million writeback for the period. G K Goh senior analyst Teo Hiang Boon reckons its full-year earnings will hit $94 million - or nearly 40 per cent higher than the previous record of $68 million. Despite the less-than-ideal timing, exiting the car and courier businesses was not entirely unexpected. Comfort entered motor distribution back in 1996 to great fanfare. After selling previous franchises (including Peugeot, which current representative Sime Darby is said to be making decent returns from), the latest move jettisons the remaining Seat and Perodua car units, as well as the Hicom truck unit, a non-starter. It entered the courier business in 2000, when it sought to tap the potential of the delivery service on the back of a booming e-commerce sector. It also had scooters left over from the relinquished Piaggio agency. The e-commerce boom did not quite materialise. With the imminent merger with DelGro, analysts say Comfort - as well as DelGro - will review all non-performing and non-core businesses. For the period under review, Comfort's earnings per share rose to nine cents, from 6.4 cents previously. Net asset value per share stood at 65.2 cents, from 59.6 cents at March 31, 2002. The board has declared a second gross interim dividend of 9 per cent, or 2.25 cents. Together with the interim dividend paid on Dec 17, total interim dividends for the nine-month period is 15 per cent, or 3.75 cents.