French company makes NOL profitable – less than 1 year after acquiring it from S’pore
In 1972, Dr Goh Keng Swee, widely recognised as the architect of Singapore’s economic growth, said: “One of the tragic illusions that many countries of the Third World entertain is the notion that politicians and civil servants can successfully perform entrepreneurial functions. It is curious that, in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, the belief persists.”
But what Ng could not do at NOL, the French seemed to have done it – and all in less than one year.
“CMA CGM, the world’s third-largest container line, said in its results statement that it was confident operating profits would rise further in the current quarter, citing healthy volumes and a “continued improvement in freight rates”,” Reuters said.
It added that “net profit of $26 million for the former NOL business represented a first quarterly net profit for NOL since 2011.”
Ng, in the meantime, has moved on and is now the Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Singapore Institute of Technology and a Trustee of the National University of Singapore. He is also a member of the board of Singapore Power and an independent director to the board of Singapore Press Holdings.
