This NYT article tells us of the growing air pollution problems in HK, even when China’s major cities are improving the quality of the air in their cities.
Our air is better than that of HK’s. And do remember that MM was a greenie even before the term was invented. S’pore has so many trees because of the green campaign when he was PM.
He should ensure that any acquisition in Indonesia, India, Malaysia and Thailand, the countries where DBS says it would look for acquisition opportunities is disciplined in terms of valuation, strategic fit and execution. Investors still remember the Dao Heng fiasco, overpaying and having to take billion dollar impairement charge. And the purchase of POSB was not such a gd deal as anti-government subversives like to imply that it is.
Better still he shld relook at the rationale for these M&A activities.
DBS is Singapore and Hong Kong centric. But, in February, it said it was aiming to have 30 per cent of its revenue from South and South-east Asia, excluding Singapore, 30 per cent from Greater China and 40 per cent from Singapore within five years.
Morgan Stanley estimates that DBS would have to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 40 per cent a year in South and South-east Asia to achieve its stated target in that region i.e. it would have to grow via acquisitions.
BTW last Friday BT reported that DBS’s CEO had said DBS had identified unnamed acquisition targets in Indonesia which shld worry investors.
Previous post on topic
http://atans1.wordpress.com/2010/03/24/dbs-what-the-new-chairman-shld-be-looking-at/
He shld be relooking at FT policy — both in principle and execution.
