Director and Founding Member, Corporate Monitor Limited

Tan Yee Peng

Director and Founding Member

Strengthening Corporate Performance

Corporate Monitor Limited

Corporate Monitor was established to encourage better performance of companies, particularly companies listed on the SGX, and hold their management and boards to account, for the benefit of their shareholders and stakeholders.

Sheng Siong Group Ltd is a retailer in Singapore.  The Company operates a groceries chain across Singapore. Sheng Siong's stores provide fresh and chilled produce, seafood, meat and vegetables, processed, packaged and preserved food products as well as general merchandise such as toiletries and essential household items.

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We analysed Sheng Siong’s success over the years to see what its secret sauce is and what made the retailer so successful.
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It has punched its weight above its competitors with a set of strong financial metrics. Its ability to generate free cash flow and achieve a high return on equity are truly impressive.
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However, Sheng Siong is at an inflection point now as its revenue and net profit have stagnated since the pandemic. 
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We analysed Sheng Siong’s success over the years to see what its secret sauce is and what made the retailer so successful.


It has punched its weight above its competitors with a set of strong financial metrics. Its ability to generate free cash flow and achieve a high return on equity are truly impressive.


However, Sheng Siong is at an inflection point now as its revenue and net profit have stagnated since the pandemic. 



Sheng Siong Group Ltd: Inflection Point for a Great Performer

Keppel Infrastructure Trust is a listed business trust that provides investors with the opportunity to invest in a large and well-diversified portfolio of core infrastructure assets located in jurisdictions with well-developed legal frameworks that support infrastructure investment. The Trust aims to provide long-term, regular, and sustainable distributions to its unit holders.

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<li>Incentives drive behavior. Designing a good fee structure is paramount in managing potential conflicts of interests.</li>
<li>This is all the more important in Singapore’s REIT and Business Trust sector, where the use of external manager and Trustee Manager is the norm.</li>
<li>This is in sharp contrast to all for profit companies, where internal management teams manage the businesses for the benefit of all (or most) shareholders.</li>
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Incentives drive behavior. Designing a good fee structure is paramount in managing potential conflicts of interests.
This is all the more important in Singapore’s REIT and Business Trust sector, where the use of external manager and Trustee Manager is the norm.
This is in sharp contrast to all for profit companies, where internal management teams manage the businesses for the benefit of all (or most) shareholders.


Keppel Infrastructure Trust (KIT) – An Erosion of Trust

SATS Limited provides integrated ground handling and in-flight catering services at Singapore Changi Airport.  The Company also provides aviation security, airline laundry, and airport cargo delivery management services.

<ul><li>In September 2022, as the world began to rebound from COVID-era travel restrictions, Singapore-listed SATS Ltd. made waves with an audacious move.</li><li>With a market cap of SGD 4.5 billion, SATS announced plans to acquire global air cargo giant Worldwide Flight Services (“WFS”) for up to €1.3 billion (S$1.9 billion), valuing the deal at an enterprise value (“EV”) of €2.25 billion (S$3.1 billion).</li><li>The market reacted with skepticism, sending SATS' share price plummeting by 35% as concerns over equity dilution and debt levels unsettled investors accustomed to steady dividends and strong returns.</li></ul>

In September 2022, as the world began to rebound from COVID-era travel restrictions, Singapore-listed SATS Ltd. made waves with an audacious move.With a market cap of SGD 4.5 billion, SATS announced plans to acquire global air cargo giant Worldwide Flight Services (“WFS”) for up to €1.3 billion (S$1.9 billion), valuing the deal at an enterprise value (“EV”) of €2.25 billion (S$3.1 billion).The market reacted with skepticism, sending SATS' share price plummeting by 35% as concerns over equity dilution and debt levels unsettled investors accustomed to steady dividends and strong returns.

SATS: Integrating WFS –Key to Acquisition Success

Keppel Corporation Limited's core businesses are offshore and marine, infrastructure, property investment and development, telecommunications and transportation, energy, and engineering.

<ul><li>Keppel's Vision 2030, announced in May 2020, envisages that it would become a global asset manager and operator, with Funds Under Management ("FUM") of S$200bn.</li><li>In this report we are focusing on Keppel’s private funds, which account for 70% of its current FUM.</li><li>Based on Keppel’s publicly released materials, Keppel’s strategy to reach their goal is separated into 3 key components.</li></ul>

Keppel's Vision 2030, announced in May 2020, envisages that it would become a global asset manager and operator, with Funds Under Management ("FUM") of S$200bn.In this report we are focusing on Keppel’s private funds, which account for 70% of its current FUM.Based on Keppel’s publicly released materials, Keppel’s strategy to reach their goal is separated into 3 key components.

Keppel Ltd: Part V – Transforming into a Global Asset Manager

<ul><li>This report aims to examine the rationale and structure of the transformative deal in February 2023 when Keppel spun out its Offshore and Marine (“O&amp;M”) division.</li><li>This AssetCo transaction was selected because (1) The substantial size, at S$4.4bn, was equivalent to 14% of Keppel’s assets or 37% of its shareholder equity as of Dec 2022.</li><li>(2) Highly complex transaction with extremely generous financing terms granted by Keppel, which received no cash for selling legacy rigs at its carrying cost.</li></ul>

This report aims to examine the rationale and structure of the transformative deal in February 2023 when Keppel spun out its Offshore and Marine (“O&amp;M”) division.This AssetCo transaction was selected because (1) The substantial size, at S$4.4bn, was equivalent to 14% of Keppel’s assets or 37% of its shareholder equity as of Dec 2022.(2) Highly complex transaction with extremely generous financing terms granted by Keppel, which received no cash for selling legacy rigs at its carrying cost.

Keppel – Is There More to the Keppel O&M Deal than Meets the Eye?

Tan Yee Peng is a director and founding member of Corporate Monitor Limited. She holds an extensive career spanning over twenty years in the fields of accounting and audit. Her professional journey includes a significant tenure as a partner at KPMG in Singapore from 2003 to 2010 providing accounting and advisory services to diverse sectors. Additionally, she held responsibilities to uphold KPMG’s technical and professional standards, as well as overseeing the employees’ developmental needs of its 2,000 staff.

After her retirement as a practising accountant, Yee Peng remained actively engaged in both academia and the non-profit sector. She served as an adjunct associate professor at the Nanyang Technological University until 2018. In the non-profit domain, her roles included board roles at TTSH Community Fund, Ren Ci Hospital, and Vanguard Health Fund.

Presently, Ms Tan holds prominent positions on various boards, including charities, government-affiliated organisations, publicly listed and private companies.  

Ms Tan holds a Bachelor of Accountancy (First Class Honours) degree from the Nanyang Technological University and is a Fellow of the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants and a member of the Singapore Institute of Directors.