Keppel (BN4) Q4 2024 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Net profit from continuing operations (excluding legacy O&M) rose 5% year-over-year to $1.06 billion for FY24, with ROE at 10.1% versus 9.5% in FY23.

• All three business segments—Infrastructure, Real Estate, and Connectivity—were profitable, with Connectivity net profit up 45% year-over-year and recurring income making up 72% of net profit.

• Asset management fees surged 54% to $436 million, with FUM growing 60% year-over-year to $88 billion.

• Free cash inflow reached $901 million in FY24, reversing a prior year outflow of $384 million.

• Proposed final cash dividend of 19.0 cents/share, total 34.0 cents/share for FY24, with a 3-year annualised TSR of 34.8%.

Financial highlights

• Group revenue fell 5% year-over-year to $6.60 billion, mainly due to lower Infrastructure and Real Estate sales.

• Net profit attributable to shareholders was $940 million (including discontinued operations), down from $4.07 billion in FY23 due to the prior year’s large one-off gain.

• Recurring income was $766 million, representing 72% of net profit from continuing operations.

• Adjusted net debt to EBITDA increased to 3.7x due to acquisitions and investments.

• Net asset value per share rose to $5.95 (FY23: $5.85); net gearing improved to 0.86x from 0.90x.

Outlook and guidance

• Targeting FUM of $100 billion by end-2026 and $200 billion by 2030, leveraging recent Aermont Capital acquisition.

• Asset monetisation program targets $10–12 billion by end-2026, with $7 billion achieved to date and $1.5 billion announced in 2024.

• Additional annual cost savings of $50 million targeted by end-2026, building on $70 million already achieved.

• Expanding data centre capacity from 650 MW to 1.2 GW and pursuing new subsea cable systems.

• Continued focus on asset-light strategy, recurring income, and digital infrastructure expansion.