ComfortDelGro is Singapore's 'Old but gold' story

Good Morning Dear Reader,   We all know that Singapore is the land of public transport.   One can get to pretty much anywhere through a bus or a train. If you're in a rush, just flag down a cab on the street and you can zip through the city-state in less than half an hour. A common thread among the various public transportation businesses is a company called ComfortDelGro, the only listed transport operator on the Singapore Exchange.   However, it hasn't been a smooth ride for Comfort, even though it is the island's largest taxi operator, with about 61% of market share.   You guessed it. Covid-19. And ride-hailing startups.   The pandemic saw the company slide into the red in the first half of 2020 with a loss of S$6 million (US$4.42 million), a far cry from the S$146.3 million (US$107.8 million) of profit that it brought in a year ago.   On the ride-hailing front, Grab, especially, was actively poaching cab drivers from the taxi operator when the startup launched its services in the city-state in 2013. Now with Gojek in the picture, things are about to heat up further.   But Comfort isn't going to sweat on the small stuff. It has bigger fish to fry.   Beyond its taxi business, Comfort has built a transport empire over the last two decades. And though Singapore is the biggest revenue contributor to its overall operations, the company didn't put all of its eggs in one basket.   Elsewhere in the world, it owns public transport operations in Australia and the UK. In London alone, Comfort commands a 17.2% market share in the public buses segment; it operates 94 routes in the city.   I'll let you in on another interesting bit about Comfort. It's innovative. It's aware of the possible ways that it could be disrupted. Not only has it carved out a US$100 million corporate venture fund to invest in mobility startups, but it has also been involved in autonomous vehicle trials in Singapore.   But is all this enough to put Comfort on a path towards recovery? Ben's story has got it all: https://the-ken.com/sea/story/ride-hailing-reels-but-comfortdelgro-makes-comfortable-pandemic-progress/ (9-minute read)   Sincerely, Ka Kay kakay@the-ken.com   PS: We’re looking for a full-time tech/business reporter to join The Ken Southeast Asia’s team. You can find the full details here. What you just read is the personalised daily introduction to The Ken's story. Written by a different person each day. Often insightful, sometimes witty, and very rarely boring. Someone sent this to you? Sign up for free. Don't like these? You can unsubscribe. Want to manage your emails? Click here.