Creating value at Jardines
Jardine Matheson is a diversified group with a strong focus on our core geographies of China and Southeast Asia. We have built a solid foundation of experience and expertise in the Asia region over more than 190 years, actively supporting our businesses and communities as they grow sustainably for the long term. Today, we have over 443,000 employees and generate a gross revenue of over US$109.8 billion.
Throughout its long history, Jardines has successfully grown its businesses by following a series of core investment principles. We invest in sectors where there is strong growth, in leading companies, and with people in whom we trust.
We evolve our portfolio to reflect changes in the environment in which we operate and the needs of our customers, and have invested in new sectors and businesses, or divested non-core businesses and exited sectors, whenever it has been appropriate.
Our application of these principles over many years has led to the diverse portfolio we have today, and has delivered steady growth in returns, through economic cycles.
Turning to our capital allocation approach, we prioritise organic investment in our portfolio to drive long-term earnings growth and returns. We are committed to the continued progression of dividend payments as our earnings grow over time. Beyond that, we review M&A opportunities in new businesses and consider increasing investments in existing Group companies, including through share buybacks. All of this is supported by maintaining strong, investment grade credit metrics, which gives us the confidence and flexibility to invest where we see the right opportunities, even at times of financial dislocation.
Capital allocation
The Group prioritises organic investment in our existing business portfolio to drive long-term earnings growth and returns. We are committed to the continued progression of dividend payments as our earnings grow over time. Beyond that, we review M&A opportunities in new businesses and consider increasing investments in existing Group companies, including through share buybacks. All of this is supported by maintaing a strong balance sheet and investment grade credit metrics, which gives us the confidence and flexibility to invest where we see the right opportunities, even at times of financial dislocation.
We are active and long-term owners of our Group businesses. Our stewardship of the Group as a whole and its individual businesses creates value through five core attributes which set us apart from other companies:
Long-term strategic approach
We are a family group which takes a long-term view on Asia’s development. We are steadfast in our investment approach, seeing through short-term periods of volatility. Some of our biggest businesses, such as Hongkong Land, DFI Retail Group and Jardine Cycle & Carriage, have been operating successfully for well over a century.
We apply a long-term mindset to managing a truly diversified portfolio of businesses which generate strong and stable cashflows regardless of cycles, while building long-term value for the portfolio as a whole. This is exemplified by our relationship with Astra, which has seen this leading Indonesian conglomerate go from strength to strength over the past two decades since we first took a stake in the business.
We are well-positioned to capture future growth opportunities, with a focus on the growth markets of the Chinese mainland and ASEAN, while benefitting from our leading positions in the well-established markets of Hong Kong and Singapore.
Astra was established in Jakarta in 1957. It was listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange in 1990. Jardines began its successful long-term investment in the leading Indonesian conglomerate in 2000, when it acquired a 40% interest. Our investment took place against the volatile backdrop of the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, when the rest of the world was still anxious about developments in Southeast Asia. In subsequent years, we increased our stake and now own just over 50% of Astra.
Over the past two decades, Jardines has been a supportive shareholder of Astra and its management, working closely with the group, sharing networks and partnerships, and deploying talent and resources, as it has expanded its business, growing in scale to become one of the leading companies in Indonesia.
Astra today has interests across a wide range of sectors, including automotive, financial services, heavy equipment, mining and construction, infrastructure and logistics, and agribusiness. It continues to evolve its portfolio and enter new sectors in order to drive sustained growth, demonstrated through the establishment of Astra Digital and most recently by its investments in Gojek, Sayurbox and Halodoc, fast-growing digital businesses in Southeast Asia.
Enduring partnerships and co-operation
We have a track record of building long-term partnerships, collaborating with founders and management to achieve mutual and shared success. Over many decades, We also serve as the partner of choice for many international brands when they want to find a single platform for accessing the region, such as Daimler, Schindler, IKEA and 7-Eleven, as well as local champions like Maxim’s. We currently have over 90 important partnerships across the region.
As a family group, we are uniquely placed to bring continuity and consistency to these relationships from one generation to the next, which gives our partners significant comfort and value.
As well as building enduring partnerships with businesses across Asia, we also focus on creating high levels of collaboration and the sharing of knowledge and experience between our colleagues across our Group businesses.
Jardines has had a partnership with the Maxim’s Group for 50 years. The food, beverage and restaurant group was founded by brothers S.T. Wu and James Wu, and their school friends, who opened the first Maxim’s restaurant in 1956. Jardines first became a shareholder in Maxim’s in 1972 and in 1986 Dairy Farm acquired a 50% interest, which continues to this day. Both companies have thrived as a result of their partnership, with each company supporting the other’s business. This has included Jardines helping Maxim’s secure prime locations for its outlets, and Maxim’s producing ready meals and other products for sale in DFI Retail Group’s convenience stores and supermarkets.
Maxim’s is a household name in Hong Kong, especially famous for its mooncakes and successful restaurants, bakeries, cafes and catering. It pursues a multi-brand strategy across a network which spans the Asia Pacific region, with over 1,800 outlets in Hong Kong, Macau, the Chinese mainland, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia. Maxim’s runs Starbucks franchises in seven markets and is a franchisee for Genki Sushi and Shake Shack in various territories.
Localised knowledge and relationships
The Group’s unparalleled regional network and connections create a real advantage as we use the deep local knowledge gained to work with our Group companies to evolve their businesses and position them well for future growth. We partner with founder entrepreneurs and leading local companies, sharing our long-standing relationships, localised market knowledge, international best practices, and capital resources.
The management of Jardine Matheson prioritises the maintenance of strong relationships with key businesses, governments and other stakeholders in each of the markets where we operate, and our businesses utilise and benefit from these relationships. We also have individual Country Chairs based in every major market in Asia, who together with the management of our local businesses, play an important role in maintaining and enhancing our local relationships and knowledge. This approach gives us deep first-hand understanding of each of our markets and exceptional levels of access to key stakeholders there. It also helps us source for investment opportunities.
Financial strength
We take a disciplined long-term approach to capital allocation, to maximise financial and strategic value.
Over time, we have developed deep relationships with a diverse portfolio of well-capitalised, leading banks and corporate partners, which have supported our financial strength.
Our approach is underpinned by always maintaining a strong balance sheet and liquidity position, for both Jardine Matheson and its subsidiaries. This position has enabled the Group to move with confidence in making some of our most substantial past acquisitions at times of market dislocation.
Read more about our investment principles here
Engaged owner and operator
We actively build, develop and operate best-in-class businesses to generate sustained value over time. We do so with active leadership, support and governance from the Group, while working closely with the boards and senior management of each of our businesses, who are responsible for implementing strategy and driving performance and growth.
Jardines focuses on having the right leaders in place across our businesses, and ensuring recruitment, learning and development, and succession planning all support our strategic objectives. Cross-group people mobility is also an important characteristic of the way leaders are developed across the Group.
The Group’s system of governance is based on a proven approach to oversight and management, in which individual subsidiaries and affiliates benefit from the Group’s strategic guidance and professional expertise, while at the same time the independence of their boards is respected and clear operational accountability rests with their executive management teams.
The presence of Jardine Matheson representatives on the boards and committees of each of our listed subsidiaries, and access to the resources of the Group by our businesses, provide additional stability to each company’s financial and business planning, enhancing its ability to take a long-term view of business development. Our governance structure also helps the management of our different businesses to work effectively together in exploiting the full range of the Group’s commercial strengths.
The Group works with our businesses to deliver on our strategic priorities of:
Evolving our Group portfolio
We are evolving our portfolio to remain relevant to the needs of Asian consumers. With a longstanding focus on the growing middle class and urbanisation, we have consistently positioned ourselves to capture the opportunities arising from these trends. We are strengthening our existing core businesses to ensure their continued competitiveness, including by increasing organic capex to fuel further growth and enable us to meet the demands of the dynamic markets in which we operate. We are also expanding our footprint into new high-growth industries which align with emerging consumer preferences.
United Tractors, a subsidiary of Astra, acquired 90% effective share ownership of PT Stargate Pasific Resources and PT Stargate Mineral Asia, and a 19.99% interest in Nickel Industries Limited, as part of its continued diversification away from coal mining.
in 2023, JC&C subscribed for US$350 million of convertible bonds in THACO’s recent private placement, providing JC&C with a secure path to increasing its shareholding in one of Vietnam’s most dynamic unlisted companies.
The EV market in Asia is rapidly expanding, and our automotive businesses are seizing the opportunity to increase their market share in this growing segment. JC&C has formed a strategic partnership with Carro, a prominent technology-driven used car platform, while Cycle & Carriage Singapore has established a partnership with Great Wall Motor to become the distributor of its EVs in Singapore. Zung Fu has also been appointed as the distributor of smart’s new generation electric models in Hong Kong.
Our strategic partnership with the founders of Zhongsheng, a leading Chinese mainland motor dealership group, began in 2014, when the Group first acquired a strategic interest. We have since worked closely with the founders and senior management of Zhongsheng to develop our relationship and deepen mutual trust. Zhongsheng’s business strategy, focused on broadening its offering in the mobility space, as well as its strong manufacturing relationships and presence across the Chinese mainland, align well with Jardines’ ambitions in the automotive sector.
In 2020, we agreed with Zhongsheng to combine our Zung Fu China motor dealership business with their business, in order to create a single, larger integrated platform, and better position Jardines for growth in a dynamic environment and an evolving industry landscape. Jardines continues to be the second largest shareholder in Zhongsheng, after the founders, solidifying the Group’s relationship with Zhongsheng.
This transaction demonstrates how the Group manages its relationships effectively, enabling key strategic decisions of mutual benefit to be taken quickly and in an environment of mutual trust.
Driving innovation and operational excellence
Operating in highly dynamic markets means we must continuously adapt to remain competitive. Recognising the importance of digital transformation, our businesses have accelerated their adoption of digital ways of working to enhance operational efficiency and effectiveness, including through the use of AI in our day-to-day operations. We increased our investments in digital businesses and explored opportunities in digital adjacencies. Embracing new technologies has also allowed our businesses to create more touchpoints for consumers, providing enhanced experiences and fostering stronger connections.
In 2023, Astra set up a JV with Equinix to develop Indonesia’s data centre infrastructure and support the digital needs of businesses. Astra also completed the acquisition of online classifieds firm OLX Indonesia, as part of strengthening its used-car ecosystem.
Our businesses are reaching customers in new and different ways. In 2023, Astra launched bank saqu, a digital banking initiative dedicated to empowering ‘solopreneurs’ in Indonesia and attracted 100,000 new customers in less than a month after launch.
In Hong Kong, Jardines launched the virtual bank, livi, in 2019, in partnership with Bank of China Hong Kong and JD Technology, to foster fintech innovation, promote financial inclusion and enhance the customer banking experience. Later in 2023, livi bank, started banking services for Hong Kong SMEs.
Jardine Service Centre (‘JSC’) is an in-house shared service centre providing back-office support to the global business units of Jardines, through the administration of transactional and rule-based activities. The opening of JSC supports Jardines’ ongoing commitment towards operational excellence and innovation.
In 2023, Hack.Asia, Jardines’ innovation hackathon, received an impressive 200+ Gen AI submissions across 12 business units. Building on this enthusiastic response, Jardines has successfully developed six proofs of concept across eight business units. We remain dedicated to supporting and nurturing innovation within our organisation.
Enhancing leadership and entrepreneurialism
Our people are our greatest strength. We are committed to developing leaders with an entrepreneurial mindset, fostering a culture of innovation and balanced risk-taking. Through continuous learning and development, we provide opportunities for growth. Our commitment to inclusivity ensures that diverse perspectives are valued, creating an environment where our people can thrive and contribute their best.
LearnFest is the annual Jardines learning festival, hosting online and in-person learning experiences for colleagues across Jardines. In 2023, the week-long event saw active participation of over 50,000 colleagues from 15 companies across 30 countries. Sessions were conducted both online and in person, providing a diverse and engaging learning experience for all attendees.
Jardines has set five-year targets for IE&D, with each Group company establishing their own specific objectives. For executives and senior leadership, we aim to either achieve 50% female representation, improve representation by 50%, or maintain a representation of 50%. In addition, the Group is currently reviewing relevant policies and is fully committed to making necessary amendments to foster an inclusive workplace environment.
Embedding sustainability
We strongly believe that embedding sustainability is good business, and makes us and our communities stronger for the future. Our businesses have been at the forefront of climate action, making bold carbon reduction commitments and setting out detailed plans for reducing our carbon footprint. We recognise the collective impact that we can have and are actively sharing our learnings and best practices across the Group – fostering collaboration and accelerating progress towards a sustainable future. As a Group, we are committed to supporting our businesses and communities as they navigate a Just Transition towards a net-zero future.
Our Sustainability Leadership Council was formed in July 2019 by chief executives from across our Group companies, to address three core pillars:
Decarbonisation is a key focus of Jardines’ sustainability strategy, and we have developed a framework to guide efforts towards transitioning to net-zero by 2050, with an initial nearer term focus on setting science-based Scope 1 and 2 carbon reduction targets for 2030. Hongkong Land, DFI Retail, Gammon and HACTL have achieved SBTi validation for their Scope 1 – 3 targets, and a number of our other businesses will be seeking validation in the coming year.
The Acleda-Jardine Educational Foundation was set up in 2017 with funds from the sale of Jardines’ interest in ACLEDA Bank in 2015. The Foundation aims at giving an equal opportunity to all children in Cambodia to receive an education. In 2023, three primary schools were completed, with over 360 children enrolled for classes. Since its establishment, 11 schools have been built.
Recognising the pressing need for increased access to reliable quality mental health care and effective treatment options, Jardines established MINDSET in Hong Kong in 2002, with a vision to create inclusive communities, empowered to improve their mental health. When MINDSET was first established, the mental health community was underserved and affected by social stigma. Over the past 20 years, MINDSET has worked to raise awareness and acceptance of mental health issues within the community. As understanding of mental health has improved, MINDSET has provided vital support to those who are tackling mental health difficulties and helping individuals in mental health recovery settle into the community. MINDSET collaborates with several mental health organisations and since the launch of MINDSET Hong Kong in 2002, over HK$92 million has been raised to support 214,000 beneficiaries. Following the initial success of MINDSET, operations expanded into Singapore in 2011.
For over 40 years, the Jardine Foundation has been providing access to higher education and has awarded over 400 scholarships, at the undergraduate and postgraduate level, to help outstanding students from the Group’s Asian markets study at top UK universities. In 2023, the Foundation turned its attention to supporting access to leading universities in our operating markets in Asia. We launched two new scholarship schemes with the University of Hong Kong and the Universitas Gadjah Mada in Indonesia, and now provide scholarships to 30 new students each year.