Temasek Delays Annual Report Until September, Citing Pandemic

(Bloomberg) -- Singapore’s state-owned investor Temasek Holdings Pte. has made the rare decision to delay its annual report until September, blaming Covid-19 for hampering the global flow of financial information.

Temasek Holdings Chief Executive Officer Ho Ching announced the delay in a Facebook post Thursday. The company, which managed S$313 billion ($224.6 billion) as of March 2019, was set to release the report this month.

The delay comes at a difficult time for Temasek, which saw its public equity holdings take a beating in the first quarter. It’s also made several major commitments to support portfolio companies such as Singapore Airlines Ltd.

In her post, Ho blamed Covid-19 for forcing companies around the world to delay their financial results, noting that many of Temasek’s portfolio companies have multi-national operations.

“Although we didn’t anticipate a Covid pandemic, the economic indicators had become worrisome since last year,” she wrote, adding the company had made plans to build up its balance sheet. “Clearly Covid is now a bigger problem than we had expected.”

Ho is the wife of Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who is seeking a new term for his ruling party in national elections set for July 10.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.