WHILE Singapore Post (SingPost) has been in discussions with various parties for the sale of its assets, there is no certainty that any transaction will arise, said the group on Monday (Jan 6).
“In particular, no definitive or binding agreement in relation to the sale of Famous Holdings has been entered into at this time,” said SingPost, who was clarifying a media report published last week.
In the report, Maybank Securities had said that the national postal service provider could offer a potentially “significant” special dividend after it completes its planned sale of two business units.
The research house was referring to SingPost’s proposed divestment of its Australian logistics business Freight Management Holdings and its potential sale of freight forwarding business Famous Holdings.
Maybank noted that the sale of Famous Holdings should conclude by end January 2025, which should raise between S$80 million and S$100 million in proceeds.
Separately, SingPost reiterated that the proposed sale of Freight Management Holdings is subject to shareholders’ approval at an extraordinary general meeting that will be held in February.
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The group also reiterated its Dec 29 announcement where following the termination of the three senior executives, “there may be adjustments in the phasing and timing of further disposals”.
“The board will review and restate its strategy in due course,” said the group.
It added: “All major divestments will be subjected to shareholders’ approval if required under the relevant laws and regulations.”
In December, SingPost fired three of its senior executives after they were found to be negligent in the handling of internal investigations over a whistle-blower’s report that it received earlier in 2024.
The executives are the former group chief executive officer Vincent Phang, group chief financial officer Vincent Yik, and CEO of the company’s international business unit Li Yu.
Phang was also asked to resign as a director of SingPost and all its related companies, said SingPost on Dec 22. All three executives are contesting their terminations.
The whistle-blower’s report was related to its non-regulated international e-commerce logistics parcels business.
Investigations by SingPost into the report found that three managers in the international business unit had “committed serious breaches of the company’s code of conduct” for deliveries for “one of its largest” customers.
They had performed or approved manual updates of the “delivery failure” status code for parcels SingPost had agreed to deliver – without supporting documents and even though no delivery attempt had been made.
Shares of SingPost were trading flat at S$0.555 when the market opened on Monday.
