All wired up
The Star, 28 August 2010
In an interview with StarBizWeek, YTL Corp managing director Tan Sri Francis Yeoh (pic) charts the sprawling group’s strategy for all its various units going forward while he encapsulates the journey so far for the behemoth family-owned conglomerate.
Building a corporate Kingdom
The Business Times, 8 May 2010
FRANCIS Yeoh has every right to think of the world as his oyster, but it is more like his pulpit, instead. 'We were that close to financial armageddon. Surely the world did not worship God, to have pushed us to the edge of collapse,' says Tan Sri Yeoh, whose views as a Christian have prominently gone verse-in-verse with his business philosophy. The grand climax of Tan Sri Yeoh's involvement in Singapore, however, will play out tonight at YTL's free outdoor concert in the Singapore Botanic Gardens, where Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli will be singing to thousands of people. The same way Tan Sri Yeoh's cup overfloweth in business, the audience will be overflowing from the gardens' Swan Lake to the adjacent Palm Valley Lawns. Online balloting for free tickets before this had been oversubscribed twenty-fold. In 2002, YTL elbowed the Royal Bank of Scotland out of the way en route to a closely fought acquisition of water and sewage firm, Wessex Water, for £1.24 billion, prompting a Telegraph article headlined, 'Who the hell are YTL?' The following year, YTL flew the Three Tenors into Bath where the Wessex Water head office is based for a jubilant celebration not unlike tonight's one, and treated 12,000 locals to a free outdoor concert. It is almost certain that no one there is asking who the hell YTL are, anymore. While these celebrations tend to mark the climax of the group's quest for overseas footholds, it is clear that the show for YTL continues long after the curtains go down on the tenors. Post-acquisitions, YTL's financial statements have built on a crescendo of turnover in formidable fashion.
Looking for growth
The Star, 6 April 2010
10% increase in broadband penetration increases gross domestic product (GDP) by 1.3%, at least. Our broadband penetration is only 25% . If we move it to 75% , we would have 6.6% increase in GDP. Because of this government initiative, which by the way, makes Malaysia the only country in the world that is providing 4G spectrum nationwide, we can attract talent including people like my CEO who is American and who has nine patents under his cap and 21 pending. This has also attracted many Indians and Chinese to work here. All of them are working to launch this 4G spectrum. So that’s a reverse brain drain. Malaysians in Silicon Valley are coming back to work here.
They cannot believe the Government is allowing private sector to do this 4G. Many nations don’t do that because incumbents are involved in cables. Very few nations are baggage-free to push this 4G spectrum as they somehow have vested interest in existing telcos.
This country can get its act together and push the 4G spectrum. So, I’d like to applaud that.
48 Heroes of Philanthropy
Forbes Asia, 17 March 2010
From helping disaster victims to funding soup kitchens, they make our latest regional list.
Compelled by God’s Love
Asian Beacon, 17 March 2010
Tan Sri Francis Yeoh is in love with Jesus Christ and is unashamed to tell the world. Cheryl Lim meets up with the tycoon to find out what makes him tick and more.
One of Malaysia's richest men, YTL's Francis Yeoh, says M'sia can handle competition
The Star Newspaper, 22 February 2010
IN a digital age, with commodities and wealth moving at the click of a mouse, it is brutal reality that if we cannot keep up, we will be left behind. But Malaysia’s economy can handle brutal competition. How? With the right policies and not least, with urgency!
Second, relating to specific industries, the country must decide which are the best policies that will drive growth and continue to promote them. By pushing the 4G spectrum, the Malaysian Government has unleashed the powers of the digital age.
The benefits of a nationwide WiMAX mobile Internet network will be countless, when individuals and businesses can finally “engage” fully with the global marketplace on a mobile device. Research shows that a mere 10% increase in broadband penetration increases GDP (or gross domestic product) by 1.5%.
In the case of YTL, our WiMAX plans have already attracted job applicants from America, China and India, as well as Malaysians living and working abroad. In fact, the CEO of YTL Communications, Wing K. Lee, is an American with many technology patents to his name and many more pending.
I like to believe that we are helping to reverse the brain drain. But the simple reality is when any Malaysian business offers exciting employment opportunities, people will come to work in Malaysia. And when intellectual capital pays its dividends, there will be better salaries and improved living standards.
The other “right” policies that come to mind, relate to the retail sector. In 1999, we persuaded the Government to drop duties on branded goods and the Government responded quickly. By implementing duty-free shopping for luxury items and encouraging the building of Bintang Walk, the Government created a “snowball effect” that subsequently transformed Jalan Bukit Bintang from a tired and unsafe area to a centre for retail that is frequented by more and more tourists every year.
In the past 10 or more years, investments poured into Bukit Bintang, resulting in new shopping malls like the Pavilion and new hotels. Property values also shot up from RM200 per sq ft (psf) in 1999 to RM2,000 psf today. Foreign investors have also ploughed billions into this street.
Last month, CNBC showed “A New Malaysia” to millions around the globe. This is indeed a great accolade for what the private sector has done to improve the image of Malaysia globally with the Government’s support.
Last week, the New York Times recommended YTL’s Starhill Gallery Kuala Lumpur as “one of the 31 places to go in 2010.” In fact, it reported that “jetsetters in the region are heading these days to Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital that’s quietly evolved into one of the area’s coolest and friendliest cities.”
Tan Sri Francis Yeoh, YTL Group Managing Director, answers 10 questions from the readers of ‘The Star’, a leading English newspaper in Malaysia
The Star Online, 9 January 2010
What do you value most, and why? Bulbir Singh, Seremban
I treasure my daily quiet hours spent reading, praying and in reflection. Everything comes from my Maker, from Whom I derive
joy, insight and strength. Without my Lord, I am nothing! I am also a family man who loves his family to bits. I treasure the
time spent with my wonderful children, my parents, my siblings and their families. Of course, I also give time to my friends.
Life is very short. The richness of one’s relationships is what defines him or her. Not wealth, not knowledge, not fame!
As a wealthy entrepreneur, how do you wish to contribute to your countryman? There’s a perception that the group doesn’t
contribute enough to the hard-core poor or the sick. Is that true? – Jennie Lai, Johor
Helping the poor and the sick is more than corporate social responsibility or moral obligation. It is a biblical command
which I obey diligently. I believe in giving sacrificially and I deplore tokenism and boastfulness. However, I also observe
Jesus’ teachings that “when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Give
your gifts in private, and (God) your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.”
Philanthropy should not be boastfully paraded. I can accept the premise that high-profile corporate philanthropy could help
promote a particular cause or campaign, such as the environment. And YTL has been pushing the green agenda not only within
the entire group, but also by actively supporting campaigns and charities.
Tan Sri (Dr) Francis Yeoh to be interviewed by Maria Bartiromo on CNBC today
Kuala Lumpur, 26 November 2009
"The 8th ABLA is especially important as it recognizes those leaders who have proven sustainability and continued growth during the global financial crisis," said Satpal Brainch, President and Managing Director, CNBC Asia Pacific.
YTL Power produced the most inexpensive electricity per unit
The Edge Malaysia, 23 October 2009
Our IPP in Malaysia is among the more profitable ones for a few reasons. This is because we did the first 15-year bond in Malaysia; we financed it in ringgit, which mitigated us from the Asian financial crisis at the time.
We invented the IPC (Infrastructure Project Company) listing category on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE). From that, we’ve got RM2.1 billion. We have at that time RM1.6 billion of floating debt at 14%. So when we retired the RM1.6 billion debt at 14 %, our bottom line in the first year improved by RM200-odd million. That is why we are more profitable than others. If you had geared like us in a similar manner and done an IPC listing you would have the same results. The analysts and the newspaper seem to think we got a fat deal from Tenaga. This is lack of analysis and truth. We have the most inexpensive electricity per unit. We have no inflation clauses.
Look at our train from the airport to the city. We did it at RM35 million per km, other transport companies did it at RM150 million per km, five times the price. The difference is simple; we are not going to sell it. Look at all the other concessions, all back in the government's hands. The people who did the concessions have gone bust and sold it back to (Syarikat) Prasarana because they made all the construction profits up front and then dump the concessions.
But why is Berkshire Hathaway worth so much and why is Warren Buffett the second richest man in the world? and I admire him as he doesn't sell his Coca- Cola stock. He bought it 20 to 30 years ago and when times were down, he bought more. He bought many companies and he grew them huge. He gets all the dividends from Coca- Cola and reinvests them for his investors. He doesn't payout dividends like us. That is the difference. I think our model is the same. I think our YTL Power, our YTL Cement and YTLe are all little Coca-Colas. If you look at Asia as an economic power house then our future is very bright as we are quite Asian-centric.
Wessex alone is worth RM16 billion, more than whole market capitalisation of YTL Power which means all the other businesses, including Seraya (Power), including Electra Net, accounts for zero, even negative value.
The American or Asian way of life does not exist
YTLcommunity News, 12 October 2009
China and India have potential clout to change the global financial architecture, explains Tan Sri Francis Yeoh Sock Ping, who is named one of Asia's 25 Most Powerful and Influential Business Personalities by both Fortune Magazine and Business Week Magazine. He believes hope in Asia is justified, and that its role in the world economy is growing. The American or Asian way of life does not exist! Yes, we have different lifestyles because of our geography and our cultures, but if we dig deep, we find we have more common beliefs, values, goals, and even ancestry.
In fact, the financial crisis just proves that our common traits include our common flaws. Financial systems throughout the world collapsed because of sheer greed and lack of foresight. Gatekeepers that we have elected or chosen to protect us from the anarchy of the markets "turned a blind eye." And for small profits, do we not have environmental degradation on a massive scale? The list goes on.
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