An industry comparison of Hyflux compared with its peers - Question 15

Finally, i am upgraded to my bed! All thanks to my toddler that insists on sleeping with Papa on the sofa. My wife's love for the Son superseded her despise of her Good For Nothing, Penny wise,Pound foolish Husband. She must have logically deduced that she will still be able to keep a distance from me as my son sleeps in the middle.

Children are angels to be cherished..truly......

Now back to Hyflux.

The much needed 6 months moratorium has been granted, though it could be said to be expected. Courts generally rule on precedents and precedents in the form of Nam Cheong, Pacific Radiance,e t.c having secured 6 months moratorium before, means it isn't too difficult to justify the decision to grant Hyflux the moratorium.  And, Hyflux, as i have said before, is a company that does indeed provide value to society, and so, should be able to squeeze out a profit. The problem is the management...truly..big problem.

Disclaimer: I am not an investment advisor. Heck, i am not even working in the financial industry. Below are my interpretation and i am grateful if you will let me know if anything i say is wrong and i will correct it in a reasonable time. I am not an expert and don't wish to be assumed to be one. I make losses frequently.

How are the management like in other Water companies in Singapore

To make it an apples to apples comparison as much as possible, i used Water companies within Singapore  to further elaborate why i think the issue is the management. Granted there are slight differences, as always, as no 2 companies or 2 persons are identical, i think the reasonable person wouldn't object to the chosen companies.

I have used companies larger and smaller than Hyflux in terms of revenue to try to show objectivity as much as possible.

I have flagged out in red the undesirable attributes ( in my opinion) of Hyflux.
Except for Darco, no other water companies have the same CEO and Chairperson.
Among Hyflux's peers, it has the largest percentage of directors serving more than 10 years on the board.
In terms of remuneration in cash, Olivia's remuneration in cash is roughly in the range of Citic Envirotech's CEO despite Citic's revenue about 3 times of Hyflux and Citic being profitable but Hyflux making a loss.
The funny thing is all of them are making profits and yet Hyflux's Olivia is getting the highest ( same par as Citic) remuneration in cash.

Do you think it is reasonable?

Now for the ....
Question 15

 Olivia and the remuneration committee, can you comment on what is the basis on deciding the amount of remuneration?

Further reading

1) Considerations about Hyflux
2) The fate of Hyflux
3)Will Hyflux recover? The billion dollar question
4) Hyflux-Treatmeat of perpetual share holders- Ezion
5) Hyflux - loans and borrowings - Pacific Radiance
6)A happy ending for retail perpertual securities holders - Tiger Air and Hyflux
7) The Very Curious Case of Sharebuybacks- Hyflux
8)What did the founder/Chairwoman/CEO do to help hyflux throughout the years
9) Moving forwards at the Townhall meetings with Hyflux - Part 1
10) Moving forward at the Townhall meeting with Hyflux - Part 2
11)The Lucky Accredited Investors of Hyflux's Perpetual Securities - Part 3
12) The Peculiar Case of HyfluxShop - Question 12 
13)Uncovering the Real Motivations Behind the HyfluxShop 
14) High Level Staff Movement Indication of Red Flags -Hyflux

High Level staff Movements Indication of Red Flags - Hyflux - Question 14

For the past few nights, after the fateful confession to my Significant Other and despite it being Father's day, i have been relegated to my sofa to sleep through the nights.
Should have bought a more expensive sofa.
Indeed, Hell has no fury like a woman's.

Let's see the high level staff movements in Hyflux over the years.

Disclaimer: I am not an investment advisor. Heck, i am not even working in the financial industry. Below are my interpretation and i am grateful if you will let me know if anything i say is wrong and i will correct it in a reasonable time. I am not an expert and don't wish to be assumed to be one. I make losses frequently.

Take note that i did not include employee stock options as part of their vested interest at time of cessation.

2010 
Designation: Non-executive non-independent director
Service:  2 years
Vested interest at time of cessation :Nil

2013
Designation: Group Executive Vice President and Group Chief Financial Officer
Service: 2 years
Vested interest at time of cessation:
Ordinary Shares:
360,000 ordinary shares held in his own name
3,000 ordinary shares held by his spouse.
Preference Shares:
2,000 preference shares held in his own name

2013
Designation: Non-Executive Independent Director. Member of Audit Committee, Remuneration Committee and Investment Committee
Service: about 6 years
Vested interest at time of cessation:
20,000 Hyflux Preference shares ( N2H) at time of cessation

2014
Designation: Group Senior EVP and Group Deputy CEO
Service:  7 months
Vested interest at time of cessation:Nil

2015
Designation: Group Senior Executive Vice President
Service: about 6 years
Vested interest at time of cessation:
Deemed interested in 2,000 ordinary shares and 11,950 Preference Shares of Hyflux Ltd held by her husband.

2017
Designation: Group Executive Vice President
Service: about 1.5 years
Vested interest at time of cessation: Nil

2018
Designation: Group Executive Vice President and Group Chief Operating Officer
Service:  About 3.5 years
Vested interest at time of cessation:
Holds 50 Preference Shares of Hyflux Ltd and is deemed interested in 70 Preference Shares of Hyflux Ltd held by his wife


Tuaspring has been mentioned as the reason for Hyflux's problems.

The spate of staff movements have also been fairly aligned and consistent , during and after Tuaspring's planning and inception.

Due to investor's recency bias and tendency to forget things a long time ago, i felt it was important to put some objectivity and to reduce people's biased opinion that the blame for Hyflux's mess is pinned on the Group Executive Vice President and Group Chief Operating Officer who resigned in 23 May 2018.

In 2014, the Group Senior EVP and Group Deputy CEO, served for only about 7 months,  the shortest tenure in the list above and the only one who had the title deputy CEO.

The tenure is also very short, with a 4 out of 7 of them working for 2 years or less. 2 years being a reasonable time needed to be familiar and really start contributing to the topline of a company.

Does this reflect the working environment of the management at the very top  ?
The emperor's new clothes syndrome perhaps?

If anything is impeding the funding or capitalization of Hyflux or maybe even the sale of Tuaspring to a foreign entity at a reasonable price,  to the detriment of thousands of mom and pop investors funds and CPF money, they must touch their heart and do some reflection. 

Which leads me to ....

Question 14

Can you explain the spate of high level staff movements along the years and also comment on the short tenure of many of them?

Further reading

1) Considerations about Hyflux
2) The fate of Hyflux
3)Will Hyflux recover? The billion dollar question
4) Hyflux-Treatmeat of perpetual share holders- Ezion
5) Hyflux - loans and borrowings - Pacific Radiance
6)A happy ending for retail perpertual securities holders - Tiger Air and Hyflux
7) The Very Curious Case of Sharebuybacks- Hyflux
8)What did the founder/Chairwoman/CEO do to help hyflux throughout the years
9) Moving forwards at the Townhall meetings with Hyflux - Part 1
10) Moving forward at the Townhall meeting with Hyflux - Part 2
11)The Lucky Accredited Investors of Hyflux's Perpetual Securities - Part 3
12) The Peculiar Case of HyfluxShop - Question 12 
13)Uncovering the Real Motivations Behind the HyfluxShop