The Positives
+ Taxi recovery on track. 4Q22 operating profit (excluding relief and gain on disposal) jumped 36% YoY to S$15.9mn. Earnings recovery on the back of lower rental discounts and introduction of booking commissions (May 22: 4%, Oct 22: 5%). Booking volumes in FY22 rose 31% to 34mn.
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+ Piling up cash. Net cash in FY22 rose S$97mn to S$675mn. Free cashflow generated during the year was S$266mn. Gross CAPEX on vehicles was around S$300mn. FY23e CAPEX might be slightly higher for EV taxis, the PHV car rental fleet and EV charging stations. CAPEX is still below the S$400mn-500mn p.a. spent pre-pandemic.
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The Negative
– China, UK and Ireland’s weak operating performance. We estimate UK and Ireland suffered a S$13mn operating loss in 4Q22 due to the one-off S$9mn UK bus driver pay deal backpay agreement. China operating earnings were down 60% to S$10.3mn in FY22 due to taxi rental rebates of S$11mn.
Paul has 20 years of experience as a fund manager and sell-side analyst. During his time as fund manager, he has managed multiple funds and mandates including capital guaranteed, dividend income, renewable energy, single country and regionally focused funds.
He graduated from Monash University and had completed both his Chartered Financial Analyst and Australian CPA programme.