BreadTalk Group Limited (SGX: CTN) needs no introduction, with popular brands such as its namesake bakery brand, ToastBox and Din Tai Fung having a presence in many of the malls in Singapore. On Tuesday, BreadTalk reported full-year earnings for 2018. Let’s have a quick look to see how it did. Financial highlights  Here are some of the key financial highlights from the latest full-year results: 1) Revenue grew 1.7% year-on-year to S$609.8 million. The growth came from its food atrium division, its restaurant division and its 4orth food concept division. 2) Operating costs rose, resulting in profit before tax and share of results from joint ventures declining by 18.8% to S$32.9 million. 3) Profit after tax slumped by 33.7% to S$19.7 million, on the back of lower contributions from its j

BreadTalk Group Limited (SGX: 5DA) has three main business segments, namely, Bakery, Restaurant, and Food Atrium. At the current price of S$0.86 (at time of writing), the company’s stock is down 32% from its 52-week high of S$1.26. If Breadtalk has a high-quality business, its current low stock price could be an investment opportunity. One simple metric can help us value its business: return on invested capital (ROIC). A brief introduction to ROIC In a previous article, I explained how the ROIC can be used to evaluate the quality of a business. The simple idea behind the ROIC is that a business with a higher ROIC requires less capital to generate a profit, and it thus gives investors a higher return per dollar that is invested in the business. High-quality businesses tend to have high

If you are looking for new growth stocks to add to your portfolio, you may want to consider BreadTalk Group Limited (SGX: CTN) and HRnetGroup Ltd (SGX: CHZ). Despite lower profits in its most recent quarter, BreadTalk is poised for international growth, while recruitment firm, HRnetGroup, is making big strides both in the North Asia market and its core market in Singapore. The world is its oyster BreadTalk certainly needs little introduction. The group owns F&B chains in Singapore such as Michelin star-rated Din Tai Fung, Toast Box and BreadTalk, which is well-loved for its famous pork floss buns. In its most recent quarter, BreadTalk delivered a mixed performance with higher revenue but a sharp drop in profit. However, if we look beyond these numbers, there are good reasons to belie

BreadTalk Group Limited (SGX: CTN) 2018 third-quarter earnings announcement may have disappointed some investors, as its stock slid slightly more than 5% since its announcement on Monday, 5 November. However, here are four things that may interest long-term investors. The financial numbers Here are some financial highlights from the latest third quarter: 1) For the quarter, revenue increased 2.3% to S$157.7 million; 2) Net profit dropped 29.2% to S$2.7 million; 3) Core F&B profit also declined 29.2% to S$2.7 million over the quarter; 4) Earnings per share declined 29.4% to 0.48 cents per share; 5) Over the 9-month period from January to September, net profit was down 62.5% but core F&B net profit grew 5.2%; 6) The group is in a net debt position of S$42 million but has a manageabl

On Friday, amidst escalating global trade tensions, Singapore and the European Union (EU) signed the EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (FTA). In the agreement, Singapore agreed to axe all tariffs on EU products, including duty-free access for beer and stout imported from the EU, while the EU agreed to remove 84% of tariffs on Singapore products and the remaining 16% over the next 3 to 5 years. The move is expected to improve accessibility to European markets for Singaporean small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and is expected to translate into lower prices for local consumers in both markets. Closer to home, Singapore-based water-treatment company Hyflux received a $530 million lifeline from SM Investments, a consortium formed by Indonesian conglomerate Salim Group and energy titan Medco