Sembcorp Industries’ group CEO Wong Kim Yin is receiving a total pay package of $6.41 million for FY2024, an 18.91% decrease from the pay package in FY2023 despite beating consensus forecasts for its full year results at $1.01 billion.
According to Sembcorp’s annual report published April 2, Wong has a base pay of $1.37 million, and a cash bonus of $1.568 million.
For FY2023, Wong received $2.524 million in cash bonus earned, which is based on the achievement of the group’s balance scorecard key performance indicators such as net profit, ROE, carbon intensity, ESG-related metrics, among others. This culminated in the higher payout for Wong in FY2023.
In its full year results briefing for FY2024, Sembcorp surprised shareholders with a higher dividend of 23 cents per ordinary share, up from 13 cents per ordinary share in FY2023.
The proposed dividend represents a higher payout ratio of 40%, up from 23% in FY2023 and an average of 27% over FY2021 to FY2023.
The group recorded a net profit before exceptional items of $1.02 billion, the second consecutive year it has crossed the $1 billion mark, giving it the confidence to increase its dividend, Wong said in the full year briefing.
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“In the past, we had been quite careful in signalling [any] increase in dividends even when business was good. We started with giving out special dividends because we wanted to signal [that] maybe this is a one-time thing. But now, we are saying that [with] the 23-cent ordinary dividend … we are confident that we can sustain this moving forward.”
Wong adds: “We have entered a new phase [that] we call a ‘new normal’ for Sembcorp…”
Sembcorp groups its operations into five segments: gas and related services, renewables, integrated urban solutions (IUS), decarbonisation solutions and other businesses and corporate.
FY2024 net profit before EI for the gas and related services segment fell 10% y-o-y to $727 million.
In his CEO message in the annual report, Wong says that since investor day in 2023, the company has made significant progress in its 2024-2028 strategic plans to meet the evolving needs of the energy sector in Asia.
Wong highlights the resiliency in its gas and related services segment despite a 34% decline in Singapore wholesale electricity prices. He mentions that the group is now the leading power provider to the data centre sector in Singapore, and the acquisition of a 30% stake in Senoko Energy in Nov 2024.
The group also divested 49% of its stake in Chongqing Songzao in 2024, making its portfolio free of coal-fired power assets.
Wong adds that the group’s renewable portfolio achieved gross installed capacity of 13.1 gigawatt (GW) in 2024, a step closer to its target of 25GW in 2028.
Shares in Sembcorp closed 16 cents higher or 2.492% up at $6.58 on Apr 2.
