TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT + TELECOMMUNICATION SERVICES
Venture Corp, a regular winner at the Billion Dollar Club (BDC), is in pole position again at the finishing line. This time, Venture, one of the leading Singapore-listed manufacturing names, wins the overall sector and returns to shareholders categories.
Over the years, the company has made its name in building up healthy cash levels, which it consistently shares with shareholders despite fluctuations in its actual earnings linked to the cyclical global demand and supply for electronics.
Venture was formed in 1989 and has grown steadily into a sprawling group of companies across Southeast Asia, America and Europe. Venture was known in the early years for being a contract manufacturer of HP printers but over the years, it developed deep know-how and expertise in various technology domains including life science, molecular diagnostics, medical devices, healthcare, test and measurement instrumentation, networking and communications, advanced industrial as well as computing, printing and imaging technology.
With an eye on the business landscape getting a lot more complex, Venture in May announced a restructuring that saw the appointment of two CEOs heading a business group each.
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First, the Technology Products & Solutions group comprise primarily the life-science and genomics domain, the custom design business (focused on leading-edge biotech and medical equipment) and the solutions and strategic modules business. This group is headed by Lee Ghai Keen, who oversees Venture’s precision engineering business.
The other is the Advanced Manufacturing & Design Solutions (AMDS) group, which is engaged in the design and manufacture of a wide range of sophisticated electronic products, including products within the healthcare, luxury lifestyle and wellness domain, semiconductor-related equipment and modules, plus several other emerging tech domains.
This group is headed by Wong Chee Kheong, who also leads Venture’s group IT and global supplier base management divisions. Wong Ngit Liong, Venture’s long-time boss, remains at the helm as the executive chairman.
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Netlink NBN Trust, meanwhile, was named category winner for highest growth in profit after tax (PAT), with a CAGR of 5.7% in the three years under consideration for this year’s BDC. Netlink Trust, which can trace its roots to a former subsidiary of Singapore Telecommunications Z74 , was set up in 2017 to own Singapore’s only nationwide fibre network.
Fibre is seen as a means to reliably transmit internet access at high speeds and offers plenty of bandwidth for speed upgrades to support future uses in the Internet of Things, cloud computing, autonomous driving, smart manufacturing, remote surgery and other digital applications. Under Singapore’s telecommunications regulatory framework, Netlink Trust provides equal and open access to all internet service providers demanding high-speed access for households and businesses alike. These customers include the likes of M1, MyRepublic, Simba, Singtel, SPTel, StarHub CC3 , Supernet and ViewQwest.
StarHub, a full-suite telco, led the industry sector with the best weighted return on equity (ROE) CAGR of 19.5% for the three years under consideration for this year’s BDC. In recent years, alongside catering to consumer needs with mobile, pay TV and internet services, the company has made substantial investments in expanding its enterprise business. It now targets larger business clients with a range of services, including cybersecurity, going beyond mere communication access. StarHub has also been in the midst of an internal transformation programme to prepare it better to tackle new challenges brought about by the changing telco market.
