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Chairman’s Message

Extracted from Annual Report 2007

Dear Shareholders,

2007 - A Year of Excellence

Financial year ended 31 December 2007 (FY2007) has been a year of excellence for everyone at COSCO Corporation (Singapore) Limited. Buoyed by strong contributions from our ship repair, ship building and marine engineering operations, I am pleased to announce that we have turned in a set of sterling results for the year. As we move up the value chain to focus on high-yield projects, our revenue correspondingly rose 86% and we recorded a 64% higher full year earnings of S$336.6 million. On the back of our robust performance, earnings per share rose by 62% to 15.02 cents.

This also marks the fourth straight year of record earnings for the Company, three years since we purchased a 51% stake in the China-based COSCO Shipyard Group to strategically move into the shipyard business. As a sign of our appreciation to our shareholders for the support, the Board of Directors is pleased to recommend an ordinary dividend of 4 cents per ordinary share and a special dividend of 3 cents for FY2007. This translates to a total dividend of 7 cents per ordinary share, a 75% increase over FY2006 dividends payout.

Industry Outlok and Prospects

Our FY2007 performance offered a glimpse into an even more robust market outlook for the industry in the coming year. In January 2008, the price of crude oil reached a historic high at US$100 (S$143) a barrel as booming economic expansion in countries such as China and India added to the rising global demand for oil and spurred investments into the exploration and production sectors.

According to industry watchers, utilisation rates have been hovering close to 100% worldwide and across rig types, a phenomenon that has persisted since 2006. Despite this, orders for old oil rigs to be refurbished so they can be re-used are not showing any sign of tapering off.

At COSCO, we remain sanguine about the future. Global trade growth coupled with China’s surging commodities imports are boosting demand for ships. As global orders flow in, they expand the pool of business opportunities for those in the ship repair, ship building and marine engineering sector in the region. Therefore, we can anticipate more orders in these areas. COSCO shipyards have orders to be delivered beyond 2010. This is a boon for us, as we still have capacity to meet the growing demand at our six shipyards in China, all located near the high-traffic shipping routes along China’s seaboard.

2008 - Starting on a High Note

We would like to take this opportunity to welcome Mr Ang Swee Tian, who came on board on 13 November 2007. We look forward to working together to further strengthen our Board.

On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to express my gratitude to all shareholders, customers and business associates for the trust and support over the years. To our staff, thank you for your dedication, professionalism and contributions made to our Company. Our excellent financial results are expected to continue with its buoyant performance in the current year. We look forward to contribute significantly with a continued high growth performance and uphold standards of world-class excellence in all aspects of our businesses.

Captain Wei Jia Fu
Chairman

 

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