Chairman’s statement

Dear Shareholders,

I am pleased to provide you with an overview of the Group’s performance over the past year.

Overview of 2024

Jardine Matheson (Jardines or the Group) delivered a resilient performance in 2024, as our portfolio companies faced challenging conditions across the region. Underlying net profit for the year (impacted by JM’s share (US$168 million) of the non-cash impairments in Hongkong Land), was 11% lower than the prior year, at US$1,471 million. Our diversified portfolio, however, continued to generate strong cash flows both at Group level and for the parent company, supporting a strong balance sheet and creating a solid foundation for future growth. Full details of the performance of each of our portfolio companies, as well as significant developments during the year, are provided in the ‘Group Managing Director’s review’ and ‘Portfolio company review’ sections.

The Board is recommending a final dividend of US$1.65 per share, which produces an unchanged full-year dividend of US$2.25 per share.

Delivering superior shareholder returns

As a Group, we are evolving to align with the changing markets in which our companies operate, and we are transitioning from being an owner-operator of our portfolio assets to being a long-term, engaged investor in our portfolio companies. As an engaged investor, we have a sharpened focus on generating superior, long-term returns for shareholders from a portfolio of market-leading businesses across Asia, and we have set challenging financial objectives to match these ambitions.

Our approach to managing our broad portfolio of businesses is founded on a culture of integrity, effective risk management and a sustainable approach to doing business. This is underpinned by strong balance sheets and excellent access to bank funding and capital markets.

As a Group, we are evolving to align with the changing markets in which our companies operate, and we are transitioning from being an owner-operator of our portfolio assets to being a long-term, engaged investor in our portfolio companies.

Strengthening our corporate governance

The Board, its committees and senior management together play a key role in delivering against our priorities. The effective delivery of the Group’s strategy depends on high quality debate around the boardroom table, with strong contributions from our directors, underpinned by a robust governance framework. As our portfolio of investee companies and the environment in which they operate evolve, we continue to review the effectiveness of our governance approach on an ongoing basis, both at the Jardine Matheson level and across our portfolio companies.

The past year has seen the strengthening of the Jardine Matheson Board. We value the opportunity to leverage the industry and regional expertise and experience of independent non-executive directors and were delighted to welcome Ming Lu to the Board in February 2025.

I would also like to express our gratitude to Anthony Nightingale, Y.K. Pang, David Hsu, Percy Weatherall and Julian Hui – all of whom stepped down from the Board in 2024 – for their significant contributions to the Board and the wider Group over many years.

The Board now comprises nine directors, the majority (56%) of whom we consider to be independent non-executive directors, taking account of the independence considerations under the UK Corporate Governance Code.

Significant changes were made to the management teams and boards of our portfolio companies over the past 18 months. Newly-appointed CEOs of Hongkong Land, DFI, Mandarin Oriental and Jardine Pacific (JP) have led strategic reviews of each of their businesses and are now executing new strategies to deliver enhanced shareholder value through clear long-term growth objectives and targets. Our portfolio companies have increased the representation of independent non-executive directors both on their boards and their respective board committees, as well as making enhancements to their operation.