By the end of this year, DFI is also expecting the completion of the US$93 million sale of its Singapore supermarket chains Cold Storage and Giant to Malaysian company Macrovalue. “All our revenue streams are now from [majority-owned businesses] and I think that is a healthy position,” says Price.
This year has been an interesting one for DFI Retail Group and on the upside. Ytd, its share price has rallied, up about 39% to trade at US$3.20. This comes on the back of the group’s latest 1HFY2025 earnings announcement, which not only saw earnings and revenue growth, but also a rather large special dividend of 44.3 US cents on top of 3.5 US cents in interim dividend.
DFI CEO Scott Price attributes the payout to the firm’s “strategic progress”, including a more focused portfolio on higher-margin businesses and capital unlocked from divestments. These include the sale of its stakes in Yonghui and Robinsons Retail, which collectively brought in nearly US$900 million in proceeds, strengthening the group’s balance sheet to a net cash position of US$442 million.
