The saying goes : you can fool some people all the time but you can't fool all the people all the time. With this idea as a backdrop, I was appalled when I saw this piece of news article.
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There has been a lot of talk in the media regarding Chip Eng Seng of late. I know. The story sounds good. Before I go any further, let me start off with a brief introduction of Chip Eng Seng's business. It's main business segment is construction where it operates as a contractor. Also over the last decade or so, it has also ventured into the property development business, hospitality and property investment businesses. Its construction and property development business makes up more than 90% of its revenue. On the whole, I think that management is forward looking and industrious.That is also the reason why Chip Eng Seng has branched into hotel ownership and property development. The operations of a hotel business do provide a recurrent revenue base which would act to bolster returns. But even so, the hotel business is a cyclical one. So is the property and construction business. As investors, we should take note of that fact.
Let us get back to the numbers, the after tax reported earnings of Chip Eng Seng.