Singapore – 9 January 2003 –
Sinwa KS Limited (“Sinwa
KS”), a home-grown regional
marine supply and logistics
company, announced today
that it has obtained the
letter of eligibility from
the Singapore Exchange
Securities Trading Limited
on 23 December 2002 to list
its shares on the Singapore
Exchange Securities Trading
Limited Dealing and
Automated Quotation System (SGX-SESDAQ),
and has lodged its
preliminary prospectus with
the Monetary Authority of
Singapore on 8 January
2003.
Founded in the 1960s as a
supplier of vegetables to
Japanese fishing vessels
calling on Singapore, Sinwa
Ship Supply Pte Ltd was
incorporated in 1973 and had
its first local contract to
supply provisions to the
entire ESSO tanker fleet in
Singapore. In 1985, Sinwa’s
current Managing Director,
Mike Sim, took over the
business from his father and
re-engineered the business
model to include ship agency
services and expanded its
customer base to include
foreign ship owners and ship
management companies from
Norway, Europe and South
America.
Today, Sinwa KS is an
established ISO
9001:2000-certified marine
supply and logistics company
servicing the oil and gas
industry and sea-going
vessels in Singapore, UAE,
the PRC and Timor Leste. In
the PRC, Sinwa KS operates
through its appointed marine
supply and logistics
companies located in Dalian,
Shanghai and Guangzhou.
In 1998, the Company
received the Enterprise 50
Award from the EDB and
Business Times in
recognition as one of the 50
most enterprising private
companies in Singapore.
Sinwa KS’s core business is
supplying a wide range of
ships’ stores, provisions
and equipment to ships and
oil rigs, as well as
providing their operators
and owners with shipping
agency and related
services.
Since 1999, the Group has
also expanded its
capabilities to include the
supply, fabrication and
installation of thermal
insulation materials on gas
and chemical vessels. This,
together with its marine
supply management,
consultancy and contract
labour supply to oil rigs,
has helped the Group to
further diversify its
business and geographical
reach.
In 1999, the Group made
inroads into the UAE and in
2001, acquired a 49% stake
in Sinwa Dubai, which serves
the ports of Dubai, Fujairah,
Jebal Ali, Port Rashid,
Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and
Khorfakhan.
“In the last few years, we
have achieved more than 98%
on-time deliveries, with a
reject rate of less than
2.5%,” said Mr Mike Sim,
Managing Director of Sinwa
KS.
The Group’s acquisition of
KS Seafirst, a wholly-owned
subsidiary of
mainboard-listed KS Tech
Limited, in 2002, has
enabled the Group to access
and increase its reach in
the oil and gas industry.
Through KS Seafirst’s
representative office in
Timor Leste, Sinwa KS also
provides contract labour to
the oil and gas industry
there.
Sinwa KS has also
established, in 2002, a
network of appointed marine
supply and logistics
companies in three of the
PRC’s busiest ports – namely
Dalian, Shanghai and
Guangzhou – to which it
provides management and
technical consultancy
services, enabling these
companies to apply the SINWA
brand of service quality and
operational efficiency.
Financial
Results
For the full year ended 31
December 2001, Sinwa KS
achieved a proforma turnover
of $35.8 million and profit
after tax of $2.1 million.
In the first 7 months ended
31 July 2002, the Group
posted a proforma turnover
of $25.4 million and profit
after tax of $2.9 million.
