Singapore: One of Singapore’s largest marine suppliers is trying to put a testing 2012 behind it and position itself for growth in 2013. Sinwa announced last October that Mike Sim, the son of the founder of the company, would no longer serve as executive chairman.
Sim had pleaded guilty to breaches of the Security and Futures Act and Companies Act in court, and along with a fine he was prohibited from serving as a director in a company for three years.
This blow was compounded with heavy losses reported for the past financial year in the chartering and engineering divisions.
Nevertheless, under the bright, cheerful leadership of ceo Bruce Rann, 48-year-old Sinwa is aiming to bounce back.
Much of the S$15.4m gained from a rights issue last November is going on expansion.
“We are looking closely at the possibility of opening operations in two or three new locations,” Rann tells Maritime CEO, listing Thailand, Korea and possibly Vietnam as likely new destinations.
Sinwa is already present in Singapore, eight Chinese cities, three places in Australia as well as owning registered companies in Malaysia and Indonesia, making it one of the largest suppliers in the region, something Rann identifies as a huge advantage in the current troubled shipping environment.
“The majority of clients are asking for additional support and understanding through this difficult time,” Rann reports. “This equates to extended credit terms, partial payments and increased requests for discounts. Being one of Singapore’s largest marine supply and service companies allows us to extend this additional support way past the perimeters available to the majority of our competition.”
Larger, well-geared companies, Rann says, are in a much better position to provide the additional support required than the smaller entities that require quick payment terms.
“That being said, we too ultimately have limitations to the amount of credit we can carry,” the ceo concludes. [13/03/13]
