Responses to shareholders on substantial and relevant questions raised for
Keppel Corporation's Extraordinary General Meeting
Singapore, 13 October 2023 - Keppel Corporation Limited ("Keppel" and the "Company") would like to thank shareholders for submitting questions ahead of the Company's Extraordinary General Meeting to be held on Wednesday, 18 October 2023 at 10.00 a.m. (Singapore time).
Due to overlaps in several of the questions received, the Company will not be providing individual responses to every question. Instead, responses to substantial and relevant questions have been set out via the following topics:
- Proposed Special Dividend in Specie of Units in Keppel REIT
- Proposed Change of Name from "Keppel Corporation Limited" to "Keppel Ltd."
- Others
Please refer to the Company's responses set out in Appendix 1. Unless otherwise defined, all capitalised terms shall bear the same meanings ascribed to them in the circular issued by the Company dated 26 September 2023 (the "Circular").
By Order of the Board
Karen Teo/Samantha Teong
Company Secretaries
13 October 2023
1
Appendix 1
PROPOSED SPECIAL DIVIDEND IN SPECIE OF UNITS IN KEPPEL REIT (the "Proposed Distribution")
S/N | Question | Response |
1 | Why is Keppel distributing the | The Proposed Distribution of KREIT Units to Keppel |
Keppel REIT ("KREIT") Units, | shareholders is part of our ongoing capital management | |
instead of selling off the Units | efforts. | |
and distributing the cash | ||
proceeds to shareholders? | We have said that as we execute Vision 2030, we will have | |
sufficient capital to ramp up our growth engines and reward | ||
our shareholders. The Proposed Distribution is an example of | ||
rewarding our shareholders. Instead of selling the KREIT | ||
Units, we have elected to distribute them to our shareholders | ||
who can then decide what they wish to do with the Units. | ||
KREIT is one of Asia's leading real estate investment trusts | ||
with a portfolio of prime commercial assets valued at over | ||
S$9.0 billion, comprising properties in Singapore; the key | ||
Australian cities of Sydney, Melbourne and Perth; Seoul, | ||
South Korea; as well as Tokyo, Japan. | ||
2 | Does Keppel intend to hold | Following the Proposed Distribution, Keppel will remain the |
KREIT Units for the long term? | largest unitholder of KREIT with approximately 37.0 per cent. | |
of KREIT Units, maintaining strong alignment with KREIT | ||
unitholders' interests. | ||
Keppel, through our subsidiary Keppel Land Limited, remains | ||
fully committed as a sponsor of KREIT to further develop | ||
KREIT's growth. | ||
3 | How does the Proposed | The Proposed Distribution will increase KREIT's public float, |
Distribution benefit KREIT's | allowing the REIT to widen its investor base and enjoy higher | |
unitholders? | trading liquidity, both of which are beneficial to KREIT | |
unitholders in the longer run. | ||
4 | Will steps be taken to help | KREIT Units are traded in board lots of 100 KREIT Units in |
shareholders trade odd lots? | the ready market. Shareholders who wish to trade odd lots of | |
KREIT Units on the SGX-ST are able to trade with a | ||
minimum size of one (1) KREIT Unit on the Unit Share | ||
Market of the SGX-ST. | ||
As odd lots of KREIT Units can be traded on the Unit Share | ||
Market of the SGX-ST, no separate arrangement will be | ||
made for the trading of such odd lots. | ||
Shareholders should note that the market for trading of odd | ||
lots of KREIT Units may be illiquid and trading in odd lots of | ||
KREIT Units may also incur a proportionately higher | ||
brokerage cost than trading in board lots of KREIT Units. | ||
2
PROPOSED CHANGE OF NAME FROM "KEPPEL CORPORATION LIMITED" TO "KEPPEL LTD."
S/N | Question | Response |
5 | Why is Keppel changing its | We are proposing the name change from "Keppel |
company name? How much | Corporation Limited" to "Keppel Ltd." to better align and more | |
resources would this cost the | accurately reflect Keppel's strategic direction to be a global | |
Company to implement? | asset manager and operator with one common purpose. | |
"Keppel Ltd." also underscores our brand identity as one | ||
integrated company rather than a conglomerate of diverse | ||
parts, thus allowing all stakeholders including employees, | ||
customers, shareholders and investors to better identify with | ||
the strategic direction of the Company moving forward. | ||
There will be some initial administrative cost involved in | ||
implementing the name change, but it would not be | ||
prohibitive. We are not changing the Keppel wordmark, which | ||
enjoys considerable brand equity built up over the years. The | ||
Keppel wordmark displayed on the external facades of our | ||
buildings would therefore not be changed. | ||
We believe that the long-term benefits and value of a strong | ||
and unified brand, as outlined above, will far outweigh the | ||
costs. | ||
OTHERS | ||
S/N | Question | Response |
6 | How does Keppel intend to drive | Keppel is focused on creating value for all our stakeholders. |
Keppel's share price further? | The strong execution of our transformation plans thus far has | |
created superior, tangible value for shareholders. From 1 | ||
January 2022 to end-September 2023, including the | ||
completion of the offshore & marine transaction and the | ||
distribution in specie of Seatrium shares, Keppel's total | ||
shareholder return reached 125.5%, outperforming STI's | ||
12.0% by more than 10 times. | ||
As we grow our recurring income and achieve our funds | ||
under management and monetisation targets, we believe that | ||
Keppel will be in a good position to deliver superior returns to | ||
our shareholders. | ||
7 | Will Keppel consider declaring | We understand that dividends are important to our |
dividends on a quarterly basis? | shareholders and we have been rewarding our shareholders | |
as we do well. | ||
Companies are required under the SGX Listing Manual to | ||
announce their financial results whenever dividends are | ||
being declared. Keppel therefore declares dividends on a | ||
semi-annual basis in tandem with the release of our half- | ||
yearly results. | ||
Nevertheless, we will take this suggestion into account as we | ||
consider the Company's future dividends. | ||
3
Attachments
- Original Link
- Original Document
- Permalink
Disclaimer
Keppel Corporation Ltd. published this content on 13 October 2023 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 18 October 2023 20:36:16 UTC.