09-09-2014, 05:23 PM
(09-09-2014, 04:32 PM)GreedandFear Wrote:(09-09-2014, 04:14 PM)crosscalibre Wrote: Yes, waiting for some announcement.
I had earlier taken a look at this counter (when it was at 24 cents) but decided not to invest which clearly was a mistake...... I was attracted to the business because I believe that trash can only be a long term positive business in Singapore given the Government's policy to grow the population. However, what made me decide against investing was the fact that such a high percentage of labour / sub-contractor costs (around 45% of revenues per the 2012 annual report). Seems to me that this is a highly labour intensive business and that will be continuously under pressure from increases in wages or government levies.
Does anyone have a view on this ? Can the business be more automated to counter wage pressure ?
I felt the same but had an epiphany when a friend pointed out that one of its major competitors is Sembawang Corporation, a GLC loaded with corporate overheads (somebody has got to pay the salary of all those high flying blokes in strategic plans, corporate communications, corporate governance, risk management, knowledge management, etc etc).
It remind me of the old joke:
Steve and Mark are camping when a bear suddenly comes out and growls. Steve starts putting on his tennis shoes.
Mark says, “What are you doing? You can’t outrun a bear!”
Steve says, “I don’t have to outrun the bear—I just have to outrun you!”
Recently vested after the year end FY results and still in the process of building a meaningful position.