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Keppel Ltd. (Keppel) reported a net profit of $1,064 million from continuing operations for the full year ended 31 December 2024, 5% higher than the $1,015 million reported for FY23, excluding the effects of its legacy offshore and marine (O&M) assets[5]. This translates into a Return on Equity of 10.1%, compared to 9.5% in FY23.
All three segments – Infrastructure, Real Estate and Connectivity – were profitable in FY24. The Infrastructure Segment contributed 63% of Keppel’s net profit[3] with stable recurring income, while the fast-growing Connectivity Segment added 17% to net profit[3], bolstered by a 45% earnings growth year on year (yoy). Recurring income of $766 million was stable yoy, making up 72% of FY24’s net profit[3]. The Company’s cash position has also improved with a free cash inflow[6] of $901 million in FY24 compared to an outflow[7] of $384 million a year ago.
In his speech announcing Keppel's full-year results, Mr Loh Chin Hua, CEO of Keppel, highlighted how the Company had transformed from a diverse conglomerate into a global asset manager and operator, seizing opportunities amidst the energy transition, digitalisation and the AI wave, and growing demand for alternative real assets.
Mr Loh said, “Keppel’s multi-year transformation into a global asset manager and operator has yielded strong results. Amidst the volatile global environment, we delivered higher earnings bolstered by steady recurring income which anchored 72% of net profit[3] in FY24. Our asset management fees[2] in FY24 grew strongly by 54% to $436 million as we selectively made investments and raised FUM[1] from $55 billion to $88 billion. As we accelerate Keppel’s growth, leveraging our integrated ecosystem to provide connectivity and sustainability solutions that the world needs, we will deliver strong returns to both our shareholders and Limited Partners.”
Keppel’s transformation scorecard
Asset Management: Funds Under Management[1] grew by about 2.4x from $37 billion in 2020 to $88 billion in 2024, while asset management fees[2] grew to $436 million, at a compounded annual growth rate of about 25% over the same period. Keppel has broadened its markets from Asia Pacific to Europe with the acquisition of Aermont Capital in 2024. Apart from Real Estate, the Company has established itself in new asset classes such as energy, environmental infrastructure, data centres and private credit. As a trusted investment partner, Keppel has been delivering an average Internal Rate of Return of 20% across deals with an equity multiple of 2.0x to its Limited Partners since 2002.
Asset Monetisation: Since starting its asset monetisation programme in October 2020, Keppel has announced close to $7 billion in monetisation, including $1.5 billion[4] in 2024. Keppel is making good progress towards its interim target of $10 - $12 billion by end-2026. Including the $4.7 billion[8] divestment of Keppel Offshore & Marine in 2023, the total asset monetisation would be $11.7 billion to date.
Recurring Income: Keppel has improved the quality of its earnings significantly, with more income from recurring sources. In 2024, the Company’s recurring income was $766 million, representing 72% of FY24’s net profit from continuing operations excluding the effects of the legacy O&M assets, up from 21% three years ago in FY21.
Cost Savings: Since starting its transformation in early 2023, Keppel has achieved its target of $70 million in recurring annual run-rate cost savings, two years ahead of schedule. Keppel is now furthering its target by another $50 million per annum to reach $120 million in annual cost savings by end-2026.
Shareholder Returns: Over the past three years, Keppel has achieved an annualised Total Shareholder Return[9] of 34.8% compared to the Straits Times Index's 11.9%.
FY24 final dividend
The Board has proposed a final cash dividend of 19.0 cents per share for FY24, to be paid to shareholders on 9 May 2025, after approval at the Company’s annual general meeting. Including the interim dividend of 15.0 cents per share paid to shareholders in August 2024, the total cash dividend for FY24 is 34.0 cents per share. Including the final dividend declared for FY24, Keppel would have paid a total of $3.37 per share in dividends and distributions in-specie over the past three financial years.
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About Keppel Ltd.
Keppel Ltd. (SGX:BN4) is a global asset manager and operator with strong expertise in sustainability-related solutions spanning the areas of infrastructure, real estate and connectivity. Headquartered in Singapore, Keppel operates in more than 20 countries worldwide, providing critical infrastructure and services for renewables, clean energy, decarbonisation, sustainable urban renewal and digital connectivity. Keppel creates value for investors and stakeholders through its quality investment platforms and diverse asset portfolios, including private funds and listed real estate and business trusts.
APPENDIX
Segmental highlights
The Infrastructure Segment has delivered strong earnings growth, underpinned by recurring income over the past few years. The Segment’s net profit of $673 million in FY24 was 4.9x that of $137 million in FY21[10]. Over the years, Keppel has successfully converted volatile power trading profits into stable earnings, with 70% of its power capacity secured for three years or more. The hydrogen-compatible Keppel Sakra Cogen Plant is 85% complete and is on track to start operations in 1H 2026.
The Segment has also shifted from being an EPC player in waste and water infrastructure to offering technology solutions and operating and maintenance services which generate recurring income. What was once a subscale infrastructure business, primarily focused on Singapore, has now expanded into China, India, Thailand, and Vietnam, deploying AI and machine learning to offer decarbonisation and sustainability solutions at scale. As at end-2024, the Segment had about $6 billion in long-term non-power related contracts, which are expected to generate over $100 million in annual EBITDA from 2025. Keppel's Infrastructure Division is also leveraging Keppel’s private funds and recycling capital through Keppel Infrastructure Trust to seize opportunities in renewables, clean energy and decarbonisation.
The Real Estate Segment continued its pivot into an asset-light solutions provider. From $15.7 billion as at end-2017, total assets in the Real Estate Segment have reduced to $14.1 billion by end-2024. As at end-2024, the Company had a remaining landbank[11] in China of about $1.1 billion held at historical costs, compared to the $3.1 billion landbank in 2017, thus significantly derisking its exposure to China property. Notably, about 51% of Keppel’s $7 billion total asset monetisation announced as at end-2024 was made up of real estate assets. As part of restructuring the real estate operating division, over $100 million in cost savings were achieved in the past two years.
Keppel’s Connectivity business has grown to be a leading digital infrastructure solutions provider, seizing opportunities from the digitalisation and AI wave. The Segment’s net profit of $184 million in FY24 was 45% higher than $127 million in FY23, and 2.5x that of S$74 million in FY18[12]. The data centre portfolio's gross power capacity[13] has also grown 2.7x from 240 MW in 2018 to 650 MW in 2024, with plans underway to expand this to 1.2 GW in the next few years, leveraging third-party capital. With the Bifrost Cable System slated for completion in 2H25, Keppel is exploring the development of two more subsea cable systems with over 30 fibre pairs connecting Southeast Asia with the rest of Asia, and beyond.
Since its privatisation five years ago, M1 has evolved from a traditional telco into a digital-first network operator, synergising with Keppel as part of its integrated connectivity ecosystem. Despite challenging conditions, M1’s EBITDA[14] grew by 10.7% from $196 million in FY22 to $217 million in FY24. M1 has also unlocked $580 million from the separation of its network assets and became more asset-light.
As part of its digital transformation, M1 refreshed its technology stack, migrated all customers to its cloud-native platform, and saved about $10 million by retiring old systems. Currently, about 90% of M1’s customer transactions are conducted online through its digital platform, compared to 65% in 2019. M1’s cost to serve has also been declining, and is expected to yield 20% in annual savings per customer from 2025, compared to 2020. M1 expanded from Singapore into the region, and grew its enterprise revenue by 82% from 2021 to 2024.
Unless explicitly indicated otherwise, all monetary values denoted as ‘$’ within this media release are to be interpreted as referring to Singapore dollars.
[1] Gross asset value of investments and uninvested capital commitments on a leveraged basis is used to project fully-invested FUM.
[2] Includes 100% fees from subsidiary managers, joint ventures and associated entities, annualised fees for platform/asset acquired during the year, as well as share of fees based on shareholding stake in associate with which Keppel has strategic alliance. Also includes asset management, transaction and advisory fees on sponsor stakes and co-investments.
[3] Refers to net profit from continuing operations excluding effects of legacy O&M assets.
[4] Includes $635.9 million from Asset Co which is based on $1,070.0 million cash in Asset Co as at 31 December 2024 and $71.3 million cash payment received from Asset Co in 1Q24, less $505.4 million from the 3 jackup rigs sold to Borr Drilling as announced in 2022.
[5] Effects of legacy O&M assets comprise the P&L effects from Seatrium shares, the legacy rigs, and contributions from stakes in Floatel and Dyna-Mac.
[6] Includes net cash of $1.07 billion from consolidation of Asset Co.
[7] Includes $500 million cash component realised as part of the divestment of discontinued operations, which is presented as cash inflow from financing activities in the financial statements. The inclusion herein is for better comparability and understanding of the free cash flow.
[8] This includes the Sembcorp Marine (now Seatrium) shares, which were distributed or held in the segregated account, at $2.30 per share (or $0.115 per share prior to the share consolidation undertaken by Seatrium in 2023; $0.115 was the last traded price of the shares on the first market day immediately following the date of the combination) and the $0.5 billion cash component.
[9] Source: Bloomberg
[10] Based on Keppel Infrastructure’s net profit as reported in Keppel’s FY21 results.
[11] Includes effective carrying values for those held by associated companies and joint ventures. It does not include the carrying value of SSTEC.
[12] Based on net profit contributions from Keppel T&T and M1, prior to both companies’ privatisations in 2019, as disclosed in Keppel’s FY18 results.
[13] Includes projects under development.
[14] EBITDA refers to profit before depreciation, amortisation, net interest expense and tax. It includes share of associates’ results.
