Temasek Holdings’ net investment outside Asia for the first time exceeded investments in Asia during the 2007-08 financial year, a company release said. Temasek is an Asia investment house with its headquarters in Singapore.
The company’s net investment outside Asia stood at Singapore $10 billion while the Asian investments were $5 billion. The company posted a record profit of $18 billion for the year despite a severe credit squeeze and nervous volatility in the global financial markets, the release said.
Financial services, telecommunications and media continued to account for the bulk of the company’s portfolio, increasing their combined share from 61 to 64 per cent. Temasek’s total new investment amount of $32 billion during the year was split evenly between Asian (S$17 billion) and non-Asian (S$15 billion) markets.
India continues to be a strategic aspect for Temasek’s growth globally. “Temasek continues to identify emerging champions that are excellent proxies for economic growth. During the year, we broadened our partnership with the Bharti Group through our role as a lead investor in Bharti Infratel, a spin-off from Bharti Airtel, to specialise in managing telecommunications tower assets across India.
In addition, we also partnered with the Tata Group and STAR to invest in Tata Sky, a direct-to home TV distribution company and invested in a number of other companies. Taking advantage of buoyant markets, we also divested some stakes in companies in late 2007,” said Manish Kejriwal, Temasek’s senior managing director.