Don’t mourn DFI’s sale of Cold Storage, Giant; its modernisation journey could pay off soon
While the group has a seemingly formidable portfolio of retailing brands, its shares have delivered a negative total return of 65.8% over the past 10 years
Some investors might have been perplexed when DFI Retail Groupsaid earlier this week that it had agreed to sell its Cold Storage and Giant stores in Singapore for S$125 million.
For one thing, DFI has been associated with these well-known brands for several years. More to the point, the announcement came only a fortnight after the company reported headline financial numbers for 2024 that seemed to indicate the whole group – including its Singapore food business – is turning around.
Upon closer examination, however, the deal seems to dovetail with DFI’s broad strategy of pruning its business portfolio, investing in technology and harnessing data to drive profitability.
On Mar 10, the company said its underlying earnings attributable to shareholders for 2024 increased 29.8 per cent to US$200.6 million – or US$0.149 per share. The group’s underlying operating profit was up 16.8 per cent at US$343.1 million, while revenue slipped 3.3 per cent to US$8.87 billion.
DFI’s total dividend for 2024 increased 31.3 per cent to US$0.105 per share.
Copyright SPH Media. All rights reserved.