Investment Research Analysis Risk Management Singapore Airlines

Company Overview

On May 1st, 1947, Malayan Airways Limited (MAL) launched its first flight. In 1966, MAL was re-branded and named Malay-Singapore Airlines (MSA).
MSA continued to thrive and was separated into two independent airlines, Malaysian airlines, and Singapore Airlines, in 1972
Singapore Airlines was then born and has continued to thrive and build its brand until the present day.

Founders of  Singapore Airlines

In 1972, Malaysia-Singapore Airlines (MSA) separated into two airlines, the Malaysian Airline System and Singapore Airlines as we know it today. Singapore Airlines Limited was formed; its first chairperson was the former joint chief of MSA, J.Y. Pillay.

Board of Directors

PETER SEAH LIM HUAT ( Chairman):

Mr. Seah is the Chairman of DBS Bank Ltd, DBS Group Holdings Ltd, and LaSalle College of the Arts Limited. A banker for more than 30 years, Mr. Seah, was with the former Overseas Union Bank between 1977 and 2001, retiring as Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Before that, he was with Citibank N.A. Between December 2001 and December 2004, Mr. Seah served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Singapore Technologies Pte Ltd.

GOH CHOON PHONG (Director and Chief Executive Officer) :

Mr. Goh joined Singapore Airlines Limited in 1990 and has held senior management positions in various divisions in Singapore and overseas, ranging from Marketing to Information Technology to Finance and Cargo. Prior to this position, Mr. Goh was Executive Vice President for Marketing and the Regions and also served as President of Singapore Airlines Cargo Pte Ltd from 2006 to 2010. He served as Senior Vice President of Finance from 2004 to 2006 and Senior Vice President of Information Technology from 2003 to 2004. In addition, Mr. Goh is a member of the National University of Singapore Board of Trustees, and the MIT Presidential CEO Advisory Board, which comprises CEOs from leading companies worldwide. He was a Board Member of Mount Alvernia Hospital from 2006 to 2015 and Virgin Australia Holdings Limited from 2014 to 2015.
Mr. Goh holds a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science as well as three Bachelor of Science degrees in Computer Science and Engineering, Management Science, and Cognitive Science, all from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

GAUTAM BANERJEE (Director):

Mr. Banerjee is a Senior Managing Director of Blackstone Group and the Chairman of Blackstone Singapore. He was with the professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Singapore for over 30 years. Mr. Banerjee retired from PwC Singapore on 31 December 2012. Apart from his executive role in Blackstone, he serves as Chairman of raiSE and is a Board Member of Singapore Telecommunications Limited and GIC Private Limited. He was the Chairman of the Listings Advisory Committee of the Singapore Exchange and served on the Boards of The Indian Hotels Company Limited, Piramal Enterprises Limited, India, Singapore Business Federation Council, Corporate Governance Council of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Companies Act Reform Steering Committee, and the Economic Strategies Committee chaired by the Finance Minister of Singapore from 2009 to 2010. Mr. Banerjee was a Nominated Member of Parliament in Singapore between 2007 and 2009.

SIMON CHEONG SAE PENG (Director):

Mr. Cheong is the Founder and Chairman of SC Global Developments Pte Ltd, a leading luxury high-end residential developer in Singapore. He has more than 40 years of experience in real estate, banking, and international finance. Mr. Cheong established SC Global in 1996 as a real estate and hotel advisory and direct investment group specializing in structuring large and complex transactions worldwide. He is also the Chairman and majority shareholder of AVJennings Limited. He was with Citibank (Singapore) as Head of Real Estate Finance for Singapore and with Credit Suisse First Boston as Regional Real Estate Head for Asia. Mr. Cheong previously served as a Board Member of Republic Polytechnic and was also a Singapore Business Federation Council Member. He served two terms as President of the Real Estate Developers’ Association of Singapore.

DAVID JOHN GLEDHILL（Director）：

Mr. Gledhill was the Group Chief Information Officer and Head of Group Technology & Operations at DBS Bank Ltd before his retirement from the bank in August 2019 after 11 years of service. Before joining DBS, he was with JP Morgan for over 20 years, holding senior regional positions in Technology & Operations in Singapore, Tokyo, and London. Before joining JP Morgan, Mr. Gledhill was with British Telecom in the UK, holding various software and hardware design roles. He was a Director of Singapore Clearing House Pte Ltd and served as Advisor to several organizations in Singapore and overseas. Mr. Gledhill is a Board Member of the National University of Singapore Institute of Systems Science and Quark Consulting Ltd.

GOH SWEE CHEN (Director):

Ms. Goh is the former Chairperson of the Shell group of companies in Singapore. She retired from Shell in January 2019 after 16 years of service. She has held senior roles with Shell since 2003 and has worked in Singapore, China, and the Netherlands. Before joining Shell, Ms. Goh was with Procter & Gamble for 14 years and was assigned to Malaysia, Japan, and Singapore, and before that, with IBM Australia and the USA. A Justice of the Peace, Ms. Goh is the Chairperson of the Institute for Human Resource Professionals, the National Arts Council, Nanyang Technological University, and the President of Global Compact Network Singapore. She was previously a board member of listed companies, CapitaLand Limited (now known as CapitaLand Group Pte. Ltd.) and CapitaLand Investment Limited.

DOMINIC HO CHIU FAI(Director):

Mr. Ho is the Chairman of DBS Bank (China) Limited. He began his career as an auditor with KPMG in 1975 in the US city of Houston, covering a wide range of industries. He retired in 2007 as KPMG, China, and Hong Kong Co-Chairman. During his career with KPMG, Mr. Ho was regarded as its China business specialist. He advised on China’s offshore oil industry, formedwas involved in initial public offerings (IPOs) of Chinese companies, and assisted foreign companies with their investments in China. Mr. Ho is currently a Director of DBS Bank (Hong Kong) Limited and Hang Lung Properties Limited. He is also a past Member of the Corruption Prevention Advisory Committee of Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption and Hong Kong’s Insurance Advisory Committee.

HSIEH TSUN-YAN (Director)：

Mr. Hsieh is the Chairman and Lead Counselor of LinHart Group, a leadership solutions firm founded by Mr. Hsieh in 2008. Mr. Hsieh has extensive experience in business strategy, leadership development, and corporate transformation. He was with a management consulting firm, McKinsey & Company, for 28 years and held posts in Singapore, Toronto, and Copenhagen. He holds a joint appointment as a Professor (Practice) at the National University of Singapore Business School and the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. His past Board roles include Bharti Airtel Limited, India; Sony Corporation, Japan; the Singapore International Foundation; Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore; the Singapore Symphony Orchestra; Covenant House Canada; and the University Health Network Foundation in Toronto.

LEE KIM SHIN（Director):

Mr. Lee is a lawyer and a Counsel of Allen & Gledhill LLP after retiring as one of its Partners. He has been with Allen & Gledhill for more than 30 years, with six years spent as its Managing Partner. Mr. Lee was appointed Senior Counsel in January 2015. He is a Member of the Governing Board of Duke-NUS Medical School Singapore and a Member of the main committee of the Yellow Ribbon Fund. Mr. Lee is a Director of Epimetheus Limited, Singapore Power Limited, Singapore Institute of Legal Education, and Goh Foundation Limited.

JEANETTE WONG KAI YUAN (Director):

Ms. Wong has over 35 years of experience in financial services. Until she retired from DBS Bank in March 2019, Ms. Wong was DBS Bank’s Group Executive responsible for the Institutional Banking Group, which encompassed Corporate Banking, Global Transaction Services, Strategic Advisory, and Mergers and Acquisitions. Before that, she served as Chief Financial Officer of DBS Group between 2003 to 2008. Ms. Wong’s career began in 1982 at Banque Paribas. She moved to Citibank in 1984 before joining JP Morgan in 1986. She was at JP Morgan for 16 years. During her tenure at JP Morgan, she had regional responsibilities for Asia’s Global Markets and Emerging Markets Sales and Trading business. She was also JP Morgan’s head for Singapore between 1997 to 2002. Ms. Wong is currently the Chairperson of the CareShield Life Council, a member of the Securities Industry Council, and a Board Director of UBS Group AG, Prudential plc, PSA International Pte Ltd, and JTC Corporation.

YEOH OON JIN (Director):

Mr. Yeoh was the Executive Chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) Singapore before his retirement in June 2021, following a 38-year career with PwC. He was a key member of the firm’s Leadership Team for more than 15 years and has led the firm through key growth milestones. Mr. Yeoh has also chaired several of the firm’s regional joint ventures, such as PwC SEA Consulting and PwC SEA Corporate Finance. He was a member of the PwC Executive Board for the CaTSH firm, which comprises the PwC firms in Singapore, China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. He was also a member of the PwC Strategy Council, which comprises leaders from the largest 21 firms in the PwC global network. Mr. Yeoh serves as the Chairman of the Singapore Land Authority and is currently the Vice Chairman of the Singapore Business Federation. He is also a member of the Board of Singapore Exchange Limited and the Corporate Governance Advisory Committee, which the Monetary Authority of Singapore set up. Mr. Yeoh was previously a board member of Singapore Press Holdings Limited, JTC Corporation, Accounting & Corporate Regulatory Authority, National Arts Council, and a council member of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs.

Executive Team

Goh Choon Phong （Chief Executive Officer)：

Lee Lik Hsin (Executive Vice President Commercial): Mr. Lee was appointed the Executive Vice President of Commercial on 1 April 2020. In this role, he is responsible for the Cargo, Customer Experience, Marketing Planning, and Sales and Marketing divisions, as well as the Sales Regions.Prior to this, he was the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Scoot. He was appointed the CEO of Tigerair in 2014, and in 2016 led the airline merger with Scoot. Before joining Tigerair, Mr. Lee was the President of Singapore Airlines Cargo; before that, he was SIA’s Senior Vice President of Corporate Planning. Mr. Lee also headed SIA’s Company Planning and Fuel Department and held Regional Vice President roles for West Asia, Africa, and the North Asia sales regions. Mr. Lee is also Chairman of KrisShop and a director of Budget Aviation Holdings, Everest Investment Holdings, and Tata SIA Airlines.
Mr. Lee holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania in the USA.

Mak Swee Wah(Executive Vice President of Operations):

Mr. Mak joined Singapore Airlines in 1983 and has worked in several management positions in Singapore and overseas. He was appointed General Manager for SilkAir in 1997. After 2000, he held senior management positions in the marketing, planning, and operational areas of Singapore Airlines. Mr. Mak was promoted to Executive Vice President for Operations and Services on 1 January 2008 and was appointed Executive Vice President of Commercial on 1 February 2011. On 1 April 2020, Mr. Mak assumed the post of Executive Vice President of Operations. He is responsible for SIA’s Cabin Crew, Customer Services and Operations, and Engineering and Flight Operations divisions. Mr. Mak is currently Chairman of SilkAir. He was appointed on the Board of SIAEC on 1 April 2020.
Mr. Mak graduated from the London School of Economics with a Master’s Degree in Science, majoring in Operational Research, and a Bachelor of Science (First Class Honours) in Accounting and Finance.

Mr. Tan Kai Ping (Executive Vice President of Finance and Strategy)

Mr. Tan was appointed Executive Vice President of Finance and Strategy on 1 April 2020. In this role, he is responsible for the Company’s Corporate Planning and Finance divisions. He joined Singapore Airlines in 1995 as a Cadet Administrative Officer. He held various positions in SIA’s Cargo division before being appointed Cargo Manager of Corporate Strategy in 2001 and Senior Manager of Freighter Planning and Corporate Strategy the following year. Mr. Tan was appointed SIA Cargo’s General Manager Singapore in 2003. In October 2005, Mr. Tan was seconded as President of Shanghai-based Great Wall Airlines. He returned to SIA Cargo as Senior Vice President of Operations in October 2008 and assumed the post of President of SIA Cargo in March 2010. Mr. Tan returned to Singapore Airlines as Senior Vice President of Corporate Planning on 1 August 2013. He was appointed Senior Vice President of Marketing Planning on 15 August 2016.
Mr. Tan holds a Master of Engineering in Electrical and Electronic Engineering with Management from Imperial College London

Product Positioning of Singapore Airlines

Most relate directly to the strong brand management driven primarily by the SIA boardroom and top management and the healthy brand equity resulting from a dedicated, professional brand strategy throughout a diversified, global organization.

Singapore Airlines has joined the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in its commitment to reducing the industry’s emissions in three stages – a 1.5% improvement in fuel efficiency each year from 2009 to 2020, carbon-neutral growth from 2020, and a 50% absolute reduction in carbon emissions by 2050.

It supports IATA’s Four-Pillar Strategy to address climate change, comprising technological, operational, infrastructural, and economic measures.

Revolutionary aircraft designs, use of modern materials, more efficient flight procedures and air traffic management and weight reduction efforts, etc.

To minimize food wastage, SIA leverages customer surveys, data analytics and staff feedback to better understand customer food preferences. To minimize paper usage, it digitalized in-flight operations and offered digital publications from the SIA mobile app’s e-Library.

Singapore airlines are always the first in line when it comes to the latest newest models of planes (most sustainable)
Current Fleet
Airbus A330-300
Airbus A380-800
Airbus A350-900
Boeing 777-300
Boeing 777-300ER
Boeing 787-10
Boeing 747-400F (for cargo only)

Source Market Share

Compared with other world-famous airlines, Singapore Airlines has a relatively smaller company size based on its number of employees and planes. Also, it took a smaller market as it carried fewer passengers than other airlines.

Major routes/destinations

Source Market Share

Source Investopedia

In the local market, Singapore Airlines has an 8.3% market share. The graph on the left shows the rank of Singapore Airlines in different categories. The company has the highest rank in innovation and quality of products or services.

Percentage of Insider Shares

Source from Simple Wall Street.

Risks/Challenges

Source Investopedia.

Stock Price After IPO

Source Yahoo Finance

From the graph above, the company’s stock price decreased a lot after 2019 which is caused by Covid-19. The average stock price of the company is around 10 SGD. However, it now decreased below 5 SGD. From the company’s stock price, we can see the huge influence of Covid-19 on the company. The stock price decreased from 20 SGD to 5.41 SGD.

Stock Price Analysis

– The highest stock price on Jan. 4th, 2000, was 20.6 SGD.
– Lowest stock price on Aug. 3rd, 2020, with a price of 3.31 SGD.

Stock Price Analysis

Source from yahoo finance
Global expansion during 2000-2002
SARS during 2002-2004
Launching new destinations, increasing frequencies on existing routes, and so on in 2006
Global economic crisis 2007-2008
Fuel prices increased significantly during 2011-2012
Tiger Airways became a subsidiary company of Singapore Airlines on 17 October 2014
Covid in 2020

Cash Flow Statement

The total operating revenues and expenses decreased significantly in 2021 and 2022. There will be a huge loss for the company in 2021 based on its operating income. The failure of its own business Singapore Airlines, is mainly caused by Covid-19, which decreases travel people. The asset turnover rate is also decreasing, which shows that the company is not using its asset efficiently and may have internal problems.

Industry Average Valuation Multiples 

Compared with the Industry Average Multiples, Singapore Airlines has a lower P/E ratio and Price to Book, which is an advantage in the competition of its industry. Moreover, Capitalization/Revenue, EV/Revenue, and EV/ EBITDA are higher than the average of its industry, which is also the company’s advantage.

Brand Positioning

Source Investopedia

Compared with other world-famous airway, Singapore Airlines has a relatively smaller company size based on its number of employees and planes. Also, it took a smaller market as it carried fewer passengers than other airlines.

In the local market, Singapore Airlines has an 8.3% market share. The graph on the left shows the rank of Singapore Airlines in different categories. The company has the highest rank in innovation and quality of products or services.
Source Singapore Airlines.

Current Balance Sheet of Singapore Airlines

Based on the balance sheet of Singapore airway, the company took more cash on hand and increased short-term investments after 2019, which was the beginning of Covid-19. The company’s decreasing Goodwill shows that it doesn’t do well in its own business. Therefore, the company did something to confront the risk during the pandemic.

Source Singapore air service

The liability and stockholders’ equity of Singapore Airlines shows the company doesn’t work well in 2020, caused of Covid-19. However, the company reduced its own business and had more short-term investment in 2021 and 2022, which makes its financial situation better than 2020.

Capitalization Requirement

The Cash on hand of Singapore Airlines rapidly increases after 2019, which we can also see in its change rate. This shows the influence of Covid-19 on the company’s decision to confront the pandemic risk.

The shareholder’s equity and long-term debt increased after 2019. From the debt-equity ratio, we can also see a huge increase after 2019. This shows the company used long-term debt to cover the loss in its own business.

Break Even Analysis

The total operating revenues and expenses decreased significantly in 2021 and 2022. There will be a huge loss for the company in 2021 based on its operating income. The failure of its own business for Singapore Airlines is mainly caused by Covid-19, which decreases travel people. The asset turnover rate is also decreasing, which shows that the company is not using its assets efficiently and may have internal problems.

SWOT Analysis

Weaknesses

1. Relying Heavily on international traffic.
2. Increasing competition means market share growth is less for Singapore.

Opportunities

1. Singapore Airlines can tie up with other air services to increase its business and
reach.
2. Brand New Fleet to improve customer confidence.
3. More international destinations to leverage its high-value brand image.

Threats

1. Rising Fuel Costs can affect the margin of Singapore Airlines.
2. Government regulations can impact operations.
3. Increasing Competition can affect Singapore Airlines’ market share.

Strengths

1. Singapore Airlines is a strong global airline brand with strong backing from its government.
2. Based out of Singapore, it has good access to Europe, Asia, and Australasia.
3. Singapore Airlines has a satisfied customer base and is a preferred airline for passengers.
4. Singapore Airlines is one of the top airline brands in market capitalization and the number of passengers carried.
5. Known for its premium and excellent service and unparalleled customer service and hospitality.
6. Excellent branding and marketing have made Singapore Airlines one of the few air services having a very high recall.
7. Over 60 destinations in nearly 35 countries across the 6 continents.
8. High brand visibility of Singapore Airlines through sponsorship of events.