INFLIGHT caterer and ground handler Sats rewarded its chief executive officer Kerry Mok with a remuneration of S$2.4 million for FY2024, a year when the Singapore-based group reported its first annual profit after being hit by the pandemic and its acquired cargo handler started contributing to its financials.
The remuneration – made up of about S$920,000 in salary, S$900,000 in bonuses, S$540,000 in vested shares, and S$74,000 in benefits – was a 27.9 per cent jump over FY2023’s S$1.9 million.
Specifically, Mok’s salary was only 4.9 per cent higher, but his bonuses shrank 5.5 per cent, based on the Sats annual report published on Thursday (Jul 4). There were no vested shares for FY2023 for the 53-year-old.
The second highest-paid executive in FY2024 was the CEO for Americas at Worldwide Flight Services (WFS), which Sats brought into the fold in April 2023 at an enterprise value of 2.3 billion euros (S$3.4 billion). Michael Simpson drew a remuneration of S$2 million to S$2.25 million.
The previous second highest-paid executive was Sats’ chief financial officer, Manfred Seah, who had a remuneration of S$1.25 million to S$1.5 million in FY2024, compared with S$1 million to S$1.25 million for FY2023.
The acquisition of WFS has made Sats more diversified geographically. Singapore accounted for 34 per cent of the revenue in FY2024, down from 85 per cent in FY2022, and the Americas now contribute to 36 per cent of its turnover.
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Sats recorded the highest ever top line of S$5.1 billion (up from S$1.8 billion) and earnings of S$56.4 million for FY2024 to March, against a net loss of S$26.5 million in the year-ago period.
The group is now aiming to bring in over S$8 billion in revenue by FY2028, and also attain a return on equity of 15 per cent, and achieve a market capitalisation of S$10 billion after FY2028. To hit these marks, Sats will focus on repaying its loans, reinvesting into capital expenditure and resuming dividends to its shareholders.
A final dividend of S$0.015 per share was proposed for the full year, compared with no dividend for the prior three years. When approved by shareholders at the Jul 19 annual general meeting, the dividend will be paid out on Aug 8.
Sats’ greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions amounted to 1.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in FY2024, its sustainability report published on Thursday disclosed, up 5 per cent.
Of which, direct and energy indirect GHS emissions – what are known respectively as Scope 1 and 2 emissions – totalled 329,900 tonnes, surging 58 per cent year on year. Sats said the integration of WFS contributed to about 60 per cent of the increase.
Other GHG emitted indirectly, as defined under Scope 3, accounted for the bulk of the total emissions, at 71.6 per cent.
The counter was 0.7 per cent or S$0.02 higher at S$2.96 at 12.51 pm on Thursday, after the reports were published. The counter has risen 7.6 per cent year to date.
