Jardine shares slide in Singapore despite “good earnings growth” in Q1

Singapore-listed conglomerate Jardine Strategic said its businesses enjoyed “good earnings growth” in the first three months of the year, but it seemingly hasn’t been enough to prop up the share price today.

The Hong Kong-based company said in a statement late on Thursday that improved trading conditions in its principal markets led to good earnings growth during the March quarter, compared to a year earlier, while its balance sheet “remained strong”, with little change in gearing over the past year.

JS, a holding company, said that its businesses held through Jardine Matheson performed well. Jardine Pacific benefited from improvements in its engineering and construction activities and transport business, Jardine Motors saw positive trading momentum in China (although Hong Kong remained soft), Jardine Lloyd Thompson made a decent start to the year despite “challenging markets”.

Of the businesses held directly by JS, Hongkong Land’s office portfolio in Hong Kong remained positive, while mainland China developments were buoyed by “sound market sentiment”, and conditions in Singapore were “satisfactory”. Dairy Farm faced tough operating conditions, with sales lower than a year ago, while results across hotel operator Mandarin Oriental’s portfolio saw earnings decline owing to its London hotel being closed for renovation. Earnings at Jardine Cycle & Carriage rose.

On the Singapore Exchange, shares in Jardine Strategic were down 0.2 per cent, while the benchmark Straits Times index was down 0.4 per cent. Faring worse were Jardine Matheson, which was off 1.2 per cent, and Jardine Cycle & Carriage down 0.8 per cent and among the worst performers in Singapore.