Kingsmen’s The Edge Article

Kingsmen was featured in 9th January’s edition of The Edge magazine. Thanks to Musicwhiz that I got to know about this article. Kingsmen was previously featured in the now-defunct Pulses magazine in 2010 and you can read it here in case you missed it. I will summarise the main points of the article in this post.

• Kingsmen is still involved in Hong Kong Disneyland and it will go on until 2Q2012. 2011 is slightly better than 2010 and Benedict is pretty optimistic about 2012. The retail market in Asia is growing fast and China’s luxury market is still hot.
• Pico’s earnings of $33.9 million in FY2010 came from its investment properties and if this is stripped away, Kingsmen is comparable as at last year. Kingsmen’s earnings of $15 million in FY2010 was generated entirely from its core business.
• Kingsmen is selective about the job it undertakes to ensure all the work it takes on actually contributes to the bottom line instead of just focusing on expanding top line, which is easy.
• Benedict predicts the company can double its top line in the next five years due to the export market and the potential to expand its business in the 18 countries in which it operates.
• Benedict also sees lots of room for growth in Singapore from the remaking of Orchard Road. ION will be three years old this year and every three years, they will renovate and tenants will change. He also sees growth in Indonesia as foreign brands are slowing going in and in Malaysia, there are jobs at Starhill Gallery.
• Benedict added that there is plenty of growth potential as the market in China and Middle East is huge.
• Benedict doesn’t want to make big promises and says it doesn’t make a difference if the share prices goes up or down. However, he is concerned if the company is well run and if the shareholders are taken care of. He said, “At the back of our mind, we don’t want to be pressured or pander to market expectations”.
• Benedict and Simon are grooming a second echelon of managers to take over the business. Anthony Chong, Alex Wee, Krez Peok, Andrew Cheng and Roy Ong are likely to play a key role in the company’s future.
• Benedict and Simon would consider merging with other companies if that would bring in synergistic business and enable the combined equity to grow faster.
• It is worthy to note that the two founders have not sold their stakes in their company at all since Day One. There have been offers to buy over the company but they are not selling.

Author: Sudhan P

I simplify investing concepts to help you navigate the stock market jungle. View all posts by Sudhan P