Hotel chain operator Mandarin Oriental International Limited (SGX:M04) was one of the hottest stocks in May. According to stock exchange operator Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX: S68), Mandarin Oriental’s shares gained 9.6% in that month alone. It was also the top-performer in May among the 10 largest consumer discretionary stocks in Singapore. Here are three reasons that may be driving the surge. Aggressive expansion plans for the future Mandarin Oriental currently operates 31 hotels and eight residences in 21 countries and territories. Its portfolio includes the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park in London and Mandarin Oriental in Singapore. However, the company, as with most successful hotel chains, had humble beginnings. Its story started more than 50 years ago with the opening of The Mand

The widely anticipated meeting between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un on 12 June put the spotlight on Singapore’s hotel industry, as both leaders finalised their hotels of stay and the venue of the actual meeting.  The US and North Korean delegations are expected to stay in the Shangri-La Hotel and St Regis respectively, while the meeting is to be held at Capella Singapore. Read Also: Donald Trump Wants You To Follow These 6 Important Investment Strategies Besides the Trump-Kim summit, hoteliers in Singapore had other reasons to cheer, as the Consumer Discretionary sector was the best-performing sector on SGX this month, returning an average total return of 3.1% for the month of May. Stocks classified under the Hotels, Resorts & Cruise Lines category account for five of the ten larg

Jardine Matheson Holdings Limited (SGX: J336) is a conglomerate with interests in a web of Jardines companies which include Jardine Strategic Holdings Limited (SGX: J37), Jardine Cycle & Carriage Ltd (SGX: C07), Hongkong Land Holdings Limited (SGX: H78), Dairy Farm International Holdings Ltd (SGX: D01), Mandarin Oriental Limited (SGX: M04), Jardine Lloyd Thompson and Jardine Pacific. The company recently released its full-year results for financial year ended 31 December 2017 (FY17). In this article, we will look at the positive and negative points from the latest announcement. The positive points First of all, the company reported stronger revenue and underlying profitability in FY17. For the whole year, revenue increased 6% year-on-year to US$39.5 billion while underlying e

The earnings season had recently come to an end. As is common with every earnings season, there will be some companies posting growth, some posting mixed numbers, and some experiencing declines. Let’s take a look at two companies that delivered growth recently: 1. In early March, Jardine Strategic Holdings Limited (SGX: J37) released its 2017 second half and full year earnings update. As a quick introduction, Jardine Strategic is a a sprawling conglomerate with interests in many Singapore-listed companies such as automobile distributor Jardine Cycle & Carriage Ltd (SGX: C07), bricks-and-mortar retailer Dairy Farm International Holdings Ltd (SGX: D01), hotelier Mandarin Oriental Limited (SGX: M04), and more. In 2017, Jardine Strategic’s revenue increased by 7% to US$31.56 billion

The earnings season had recently come to an end. As is common with every earnings season, there will be some companies posting growth, some posting mixed numbers, and some experiencing declines. Let’s take a look at two companies that delivered growth recently: 1. In early March, Jardine Matheson Holdings Limited (SGX: J36) released its 2017 second half and full year earnings update. is the first company that we will look at in this article. As a quick introduction, is a sprawling conglomerate with interests in many Singapore-listed companies such as automobile distributor Jardine Cycle & Carriage Ltd (SGX: C07), bricks-and-mortar retailer Dairy Farm International Holdings Ltd (SGX: D01), hotelier Mandarin Oriental Limited (SGX: M04), and more. But that’s not at all. Jardine Ma

Jardine Matheson Holdings Limited  (SGX: J36) is a sprawling conglomerate with interests in many Singapore-listed companies such as automobile distributor Jardine Cycle & Carriage Ltd (SGX: C07), bricks-and-mortar retailer Dairy Farm International Holdings Ltd (SGX: D01), hotelier Mandarin Oriental Limited (SGX: M04), and more. But that’s not at all. Jardine Matheson also has stakes in the London-listed insurer Jardine Lloyd Thompson, the privately-held Jardine Pacific, and more. In early March, Jardine Matheson released its 2017 full year earnings update. Given the complexity of the company, I thought it would be useful for investors to have a look at the performance of the individual businesses. In a previous article, I had discussed Jardine Pacific. In this article, I wil

Jardine Matheson Holdings Limited (SGX: J36) is a sprawling conglomerate with interests in many Singapore-listed companies such as automobile distributor Jardine Cycle & Carriage Ltd (SGX: C07), bricks-and-mortar retailer Dairy Farm International Holdings Ltd (SGX: D01), hotelier Mandarin Oriental Limited (SGX: M04), and more. But that’s not at all. Jardine Matheson also has stakes in the London-listed insurer Jardine Lloyd Thompson, and the privately-held Jardine Pacific. In early March, Jardine Matheson released its 2017 full year earnings update. Given the complexity of the company, I thought it would be useful for investors to have a look at the performance of the individual businesses. In this article, I will be running through the performance of Jardine Pacific. [Editor’s no

Jardine Matheson Holdings Limited  (SGX: J36) is a sprawling conglomerate with interests in many Singapore-listed companies such as automobile distributor Jardine Cycle & Carriage Ltd (SGX: C07), bricks-and-mortar retailer Dairy Farm International Holdings Ltd (SGX: D01), hotelier Mandarin Oriental Limited (SGX: M04), and more. But that’s not at all. Jardine Matheson also has stakes in the London-listed insurer Jardine Lloyd Thompson, the privately-held Jardine Pacific, and more. In early March, Jardine Matheson released its 2017 full year earnings update. Given the complexity of the company, I thought it would be useful for investors to have a look at the performance of the individual businesses. In previous articles, I had discussed the Jardine Pacific and Jardine Motors

Earlier this month, Jardine Matheson Holdings Limited (SGX: J36) reported its 2017 results. As a brief introduction, Jardine Matheson is a conglomerate with interests in the web of Jardines companies which include Jardine Cycle & Carriage Ltd (SGX: C07), Hongkong Land Holdings Limited (SGX: H78), Dairy Farm International Holdings Ltd (SGX: D01), Mandarin Oriental Limited (SGX: M04), Jardine Lloyd Thompson, Jardine Pacific and Jardine Motor. Here are 10 things that investors should know from Jardine Matheson Holdings’ 2017 results: 1. Revenue increased 6% year-on-year to US$ 39.5 billion. 2. Underlying operating profit (excluding non-trading items) improved 5% year-on-year to US$3.3 billion. 3. Underlying profit attributable to shareholders improved 13% year-on-year to US$1.6

Recently, Jardine Strategic Holdings Limited (SGX: J37)  reported its 2017 earnings results. As a quick introduction, Jardine Strategic is a conglomerate with interests in the web of Jardines companies such as Jardine Cycle & Carriage Ltd (SGX: C07), Hongkong Land Holdings Limited (SGX: H78), Dairy Farm International Holdings Ltd (SGX: D01), Mandarin Oriental Limited (SGX: M04) and Jardine Matheson Holdings Limited (SGX: J336). Here are 10 things that investors should know about its Jardine Strategic Holdings’ 2017 results: 1. Revenue increased 7% year-on-year to US$ 31.6 billion. 2. Underlying operating profit (excluding non-trading items) improved 3% year-on-year to US$ 3.0 billion. 3. Underlying full year profit attributable to shareholders improved 11% year-on-year t

There are three listed entities linked to Jardine Matheson Holdings Limited (SGX: J36) and Jardine Strategic Holdings Limited (SGX: J37) that will be going ex-dividend on Wednesday, 21 March 2018. In other words, you need to own shares in the businesses before that day to receive their dividends. Let’s take a look at them. Dairy Farm International Holdings Ltd (SGX: D01) Dairy Farm is a pan-Asian retail group with more than 7,000 outlets (including associates and joint ventures) in several countries. It is dishing out 14.50 US cents per share for the fourth quarter. For the full year ended 31 December 2017, combined total sales, which includes 100% of associates and joint ventures, grew 7% year-on-year to US$21.83 billion. However, profit attributable to shareholders tumbled 14% to US$40