Chitchat Delisting of SMRT - What does it mean?

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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

By now Singaporeans received 3 sets of news within a month, all about the same public listed company SMRT - (1) defective trains on SMRT lines and their return to China, (2) LTA buying back SMRT infrastructure and rolling stock assets and finally (3) the proposed buy-back and delisting of SMRT from SGX.

Many assumed that it will be nationalisation or on the way to nationalisation as the it is effectively in Govt hands. Yes and no. Here are some interesting things

1) SMRT like its parent Temasek will be wrapped up ever so tightly from prying eyes. We will not know how much Desmond makes even or the bonus he gets even if SMRT continues to perform badly. There are no disclosure requirements to the public unlike their listing with SGX.
2) Gerald Giam and any analyst for that matter will no longer have access to financials such as ROE which the former showed in 2011 that SMRT was making profits hand over fist despite delivering sub-standard service
3) Unlike a Stat Board which has parliamentary oversight and by law must present its annual report and financials t parliament, a private company of the govt does not have to. Look at Temasek and Ho Ching. They have made repeated mistakes in large investments and she is not answerable to anyone but her husband. SMRT will have the exact same protection.
4) Lastly, it will easier to package SMRT with additional state resources and cash injections and sell to a company for a "substantial profit" that will make Temasek look good. The additional funding need not be disclosed.


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