Sunday 25 September 2016
The Singapore Economy Is Worsening
Time to hunker down, upgrade your skills if you can, and appreciate what you already have.
Friday 9 September 2016
High Cost Of F&B
Met up with a friend recently in Bangkok. He's recently shifted his restaurant business from Singapore to Thailand because the high costs of everything was pushing him towards a loss-making business.
Here is a very successful chef, who has been priced out of the Singapore market.
Here's a comparison of the costs he has saved by moving his business to Thailand from Singapore.
Singapore (SGD)
Monthly Rent: 22,000
Monthly Staff Salary: 1,500
Renovation: 100,000
Daily Profit: Breakeven
Bangkok (SGD)
Monthly Rent: 3,000
Monthly Staff Salary: 500
Renovation: 30,000
Daily Profit: 1,000
What a change in costs for him.
Sure there are pros and cons still, but this is quite a drastic especially in the rental side of things. And already being in business for 2 months, he's turning in a healthy daily profit whereas in Singapore he was barely breaking even.
And this is how hard it is to run a small F&B business in Singapore when rents are sky high.
Sunday 4 September 2016
Noble Group (N21)
Decided to take a punt on this infamous stock.
From a high of more than $1.13 some five years ago, it has plummeted so low to the current $0.112 yesterday. The commodity downturn, targeted by short sellers and the overall scrutiny of its accounting practices have all contributed to its downfall today.
There should be some upside considering how they are currently deconstructing their business.
Their Founder and Executive Chairman had this to say, during the company's first six months interim results address, which somewhat inspired me.
"At a personal level, and while for the second time in my Noble career I have announced that I will be stepping down from the role of Executive Chairman, I am determined to be involved in the process of renewal and will not quit until we have restored value.
Few of you will recall that it was almost twenty years ago, as we had just gone public before the Asian financial crisis that our share price fell by 90 per cent. At that time we pledged ourselves to restore the business’s value.
We achieved it then, and we will achieve it this time. That this task will take longer than a few quarters is a fact of life, and not a reflection of our effort or determination."
You can read the rest of his address here.
It is quite a risky punt though, given that their bonds have already reached junk status.
Hopefully it will pay off.
From a high of more than $1.13 some five years ago, it has plummeted so low to the current $0.112 yesterday. The commodity downturn, targeted by short sellers and the overall scrutiny of its accounting practices have all contributed to its downfall today.
There should be some upside considering how they are currently deconstructing their business.
Their Founder and Executive Chairman had this to say, during the company's first six months interim results address, which somewhat inspired me.
"At a personal level, and while for the second time in my Noble career I have announced that I will be stepping down from the role of Executive Chairman, I am determined to be involved in the process of renewal and will not quit until we have restored value.
Few of you will recall that it was almost twenty years ago, as we had just gone public before the Asian financial crisis that our share price fell by 90 per cent. At that time we pledged ourselves to restore the business’s value.
We achieved it then, and we will achieve it this time. That this task will take longer than a few quarters is a fact of life, and not a reflection of our effort or determination."
You can read the rest of his address here.
It is quite a risky punt though, given that their bonds have already reached junk status.
Hopefully it will pay off.
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