Jardine Pacific

• Good performance by most of the B2B businesses
• Consumer businesses continued to be impacted by pandemic restrictions
• Jardine Schindler and JEC saw improved performance

Jardine Pacific produced an underlying net profit of US$182 million, 4% higher than 2021. There was a good performance by most of the B2B businesses, while the group’s consumer businesses continued to be impacted by continuing pandemic restrictions in Hong Kong. The business reported a net loss of US$123 million, after net non-trading losses of US$305 million.

Jardine Pacific businesses received total government subsidies of US$28 million in the current year, compared with US$9 million in 2021.

There was significant focus in the year across the group’s businesses in driving operational improvements. The benefits are now starting to be seen in improved business performance and the group is well set for future growth.

Within Jardine Pacific’s B2B businesses, Jardine Schindler’s performance was higher than in 2021, with a stable contribution from the Existing Installation business. JEC delivered good profit growth. Its Hong Kong businesses continued to report solid performances, although its regional businesses continued to face challenging conditions. Strong levels of new work were secured, leading to a record order book at year-end.

Gammon’s performance was in line with last year due to the timing of projects, and its order book remained strong.

In Transport Services, there was weaker performance in HACTL, mainly caused by lower volumes as export demand softened. Jardine Aviation reported a higher loss, due to lower flight volumes for much of the year. Volumes slowly recovered, however, as pandemic restrictions in Hong Kong eased towards the end of the year.

Looking at the group’s consumer-facing businesses, Jardine Restaurants delivered overall results which were 29% lower than last year, mainly due to the impact of disruption from pandemic restrictions in Hong Kong, which resulted in a weaker performance in both Pizza Hut and KFC Hong Kong. Despite a lower contribution caused by increasing operating costs, Pizza Hut Taiwan continued to perform well. The business continued to benefit from ongoing ‘process re-engineering’ projects.

Zung Fu Hong Kong reported a lower profit year on year. After-sales activities were affected by the pandemic, while supply constraints impacted passenger car deliveries.

Jardine Pacific saw net non-trading losses of US$305 million in the year, compared to a net non-trading gain of US$389 million in 2021, as a result of the decrease in the fair value of the investment properties and the impairment of investments, and the absence of the gain on disposal of Hong Kong properties by Zung Fu which was reported in 2021.