VICOM

[pianist]

does that mean that Heng Chye Kiou was 'forced' to retire?

[brattzz]

retired at age 60 yrs old?? think it's quite obvious...

[FFNow]

My reading of it is that it is not a renewal but a consolidation, effectively a removal of Vicom's CEO post by combining it with a ComfortDelgro appointment. It saves ComfortDelgro a big paycheck. Sim Wing Yew started as a GM of 2 workshops in SBS Transit, then GM of all 5 SBS workshops, then COO and finally CEO of ComfortDelgro Engineering. Vicom is a comparatively small portfolio compared to being CEO of CDG Eng. In fact, looking at the CDG Annual Report it is clear that Sim is holding possibly the most important job in the Group - making sure the buses are operationally ready.

I suspect that as Vicom management retire they will replaced by CDG management who are already holding other appointments. Eventually there will be no Vicom-only managers, only CDG managers holding dual appointments. Then it will be simple for ComfortDelgro to privatise Vicom. No senior managers in Vicom will lose their jobs after the privatisation (since they have other roles in CDG), so there will be no resistance at Vicom. My guess is either a straight cash offer, CDG shares (at a discount to encourage taking scrip), or some combination of the two.

This privatisation will not happen so soon, especially given Vicom's high share price (unless CDG's price goes up even more). But it is the logical thing to do for CDG. "Cost savings" is a great excuse. After all Vicom is tightly held, there is no liquidity, they have never raised funds from the market since IPO, etc. So enjoy your dividends while you can.

Great insights! Thanks d.o.g.!

[shanrui_91]

This leads me thinking about why did CDG decide to spin off VICOM in the first place? was CDG highly in need of cash at that point in time (1995) or was VICOM not working as well then?

[Musicwhiz]

A forum letter today. Interesting to note VICOM charges $10.70 for a mandatory annual inspection which lasts all of FIVE seconds!

The Straits Times
Mar 6, 2012
Long wait for a quick car check

MY FATHER and I went to a Vicom centre last Saturday for the annual off-peak car number plate inspection.

We got stuck in a long queue of cars waiting for inspection.

The actual inspection took all of five seconds and involved a visual check of the number plates using a torchlight. We paid $10.70 for this brief low-tech inspection.

The Government is urging the public and employers to embrace the productivity movement, and government agencies like the Land Transport Authority must take the lead.

Modern technology allows the tampering of number plates to be detected remotely and cheaply, and the improvement in productivity to the entire economy will be immense.

Lam Zhi Xin (Miss)

[yeokiwi]

A forum letter today. Interesting to note VICOM charges $10.70 for a mandatory annual inspection which lasts all of FIVE seconds!

The Straits Times
Mar 6, 2012
Long wait for a quick car check

MY FATHER and I went to a Vicom centre last Saturday for the annual off-peak car number plate inspection.

We got stuck in a long queue of cars waiting for inspection.

The actual inspection took all of five seconds and involved a visual check of the number plates using a torchlight. We paid $10.70 for this brief low-tech inspection.

The Government is urging the public and employers to embrace the productivity movement, and government agencies like the Land Transport Authority must take the lead.

Modern technology allows the tampering of number plates to be detected remotely and cheaply, and the improvement in productivity to the entire economy will be immense.

Lam Zhi Xin (Miss)

A biased view of Vicom Shareholder:-
The demand for these services is uneven throughout the week.
So, sometimes, it is relatively car free while sometimes it may be long queue of cars.

To promote productivity, Vicom should consider providing home or office inspection service at a cost of $107.00.
The inspection uncle drives to your house or office, inspects, collects $$$ and prints certificate on the spot

[Musicwhiz]

To promote productivity, Vicom should consider providing home or office inspection service at a cost of $107.00.
The inspection uncle drives to your house or office, inspects, collects $$$ and prints certificate on the spot

Haha, I don't think motorists will be willing to pay 10x the current fee just for such "personalized" service. They may choose to drive there to save the money or select more off-peak timings to avoid the massive crush which occurs now and then.

Then again, if VICOM can come up with some value-added service on the go, yet charge a premium for it, why not? As a shareholder, I am biased too!

[brattzz]

valet car inspections service?

why not? make it $107 per inspection!

[FFNow]

valet car inspections service?

why not? make it $107 per inspection!

I'm in for it too! Shall we do up a petition and submit to VICOM?

[shanrui_91]

VICOM's annual report 2011 is out on its website and all I can say for now is that it is full of exciting news especially for SETSCO.

Just to share 1 piece of it

"Setsco was accredited by the Singapore Accreditation Council
as an Inspection Body for the Central Alarm Monitoring
System (CAMS) based on the requirements of the ISO/IEC
17020, becoming the first company in Singapore to provide
CAMS inspection services to all the major security firms."

In case you wonder what it is about:

"Under the new regulation, those who provide the service of monitoring intruder alarm systems linked to CAMS have to renew their licence annually and they also need to produce an inspection report stating that all equipment used or installed in the monitoring stations are in compliance with the SS 558 : 2010 Code of Practice for Construction, Installation, Operation and Maintenance of Intruder Alarm Systems (formerly known as CP59). The CAMS operator’s inspection report will in turn have to be issued by reliable and competent inspection bodies accredited by the Singapore Accreditation Council (SAC)1."

http://apps.spring.gov.sg/QSNEWS/Web/Vie...aspx?id=97

As for the mysterious 1m share, there is no information about it. It's either HSBC (Singapore) Nominees Pte Ltd or DBS Nominees Pte Ltd as both have an increase of around 1 million shares.