Panelists (from left) Alpin Mehta, head of real estate at Temasek; Png Chin Yee, chief financial officer at Temasek; Chia Song Hwee, deputy chief executive officer at Temasek; and Connie Chan, head of financial services at Temasek, at the Temasek Review 2024 media conference on July 9. / Photo credit: Gin Tay, The Straits Times
Temasek turned in a one-year total shareholder return (TSR) of 1.6% for the financial year ended March 31, reversing the previous year’s negative showing. However, the recovery was hampered by the weak China market.
The figures were unveiled on July 9 at the launch of the annual Temasek Review, which covers Temasek’s performance overview, performance highlights, as well as its group financial summary for the latest financial year.
On a 10-year basis, Temasek’s TSR remained unchanged at 6%, while its 20-year TSR slipped slightly from 9% last year to 7% this year.
With the 20-year rolling period, the decline was attributed mainly to the exclusion of the economic recovery period of 2004 after the severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Chia Song Hwee, the deputy CEO of Temasek, said that the entity’s portfolio returns over 10- and 20-year periods are its main focus.
“For the type of capital that we have, it is well-suited for us to take a long-term view and invest with that in mind. We’re not a kind of a day trader investor,” he said.
The longer-term 10-year and 20-year TSRs are also “more indicative” of its performance and are aligned with its mandate to generate sustainable returns over the long term.
Meanwhile, Temasek’s net portfolio value (NPV) stood at S$389 billion (US$288 billion), up US$5.18 billion from a year ago.
After marking its unlisted portfolio to market, the NPV rose to US$311 billion, up US$6.7 billion from last year.
Excluding Singapore, the US continued to be the leading destination for Temasek’s capital, followed by India and Europe. It has also stepped up investments in Japan.
Total shareholder returns
The improvement of Temasek’s one-year TSR into positive territory comes after the entity posted a one-year TSR of negative 5.07% the previous year, its worst performance in seven years.
Explaining the yearly TSR figures, Connie Chan, the head of financial services at Temasek, told The Business Times that Temasek is “not immune” to year-to-year market volatility given that its investments are primarily in equities.
“What is important is the underlying assets and whether their performance can continue into the future,” deputy CEO Chia added.
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