Zhi Hao, Author at Goody Feed

As vaccination rates increase exponentially around the world, entire nations have become bolder in their approach towards the pandemic. After all, the pandemic is set to become endemic, and that tentatively means that we can, at long last, head towards normalcy once again. Or at least, as normal as we can get. Now, while the revelation would certainly delight travel-seekers all around the globe, it also appeals to corporations which were hit hard by the pandemic. As you may already be aware, some could not survive the onslaught. Case in point: this. But if there's any consolation, it's that there are corporations that barely made it, and it seems that they're set for a resurgence. Jollibee is one, and... ComfortDelGro is another. ComfortDelGro is Now Having Profits Again; Even Its Taxi Business is Generating Profits It seems that ComfortDelGro has bounced back in an admirable fashion. Lest you've forgotten, the transport giant incurred a net loss of S$6.6 million in the first six months of 2020. For some businesses, such an amount would have surely meant their downfall. However, ComfortDelGro decided to tank its way through the ordeal, and coupled with government relief, lower power and fuel expenses as well as reduced staff costs, the taxi giant managed to record whopping interim earnings of... S$91 million in the six months to 30 June 2021. Indeed, nearly every sector garnered a positive result, with earnings per share actually going from a negative 0.3 cents to 4.2 cents. Heck, even its taxi business, which was already compromised by the likes of Grab and Gojek, is experiencing a resurgence. It went from a loss of S$68.4 million to a profit of S$17.9 million. In addition, the public transport business managed to attain an operating profit of S$82.5 million, up from S$55.5 million. Cash and equivalents are also at S$892.8 million, up from S$619.9 million. "Painful But Tolerable" Group chief executive Yang Ban Seng has since summed up the six months in three words: "Painful but tolerable". But he has expressed positivity over the current circumstances. "The global situation continues to be difficult but it is definitely an improvement over the catastrophic conditions we all experienced last year," he said. "Amid all these, we have been reviewing our business models and accelerating our digitalisation programmes in a bid to remain nimble in an exceedingly trying environment," he added. Despite a significant improvement in revenue, the group remains realistic. "We expect a slow and uneven recovery in ridership resulting in depressed revenues and margins," the group said. "With a strong balance sheet, the group remains committed to its long-term mobility strategy." Other Instances It was recently revealed that fast-food giant Jollibee will be taking over dim sum brand Tim Ho Wan in its entirety, which may come as a real surprise to some. Back in the first half of 2020, it was revealed that Jollibee Foods Corporation had reportedly suffered a net loss of 12 billion Philippine pesos (S$336 million). In fact, in the second quarter of 2020, the fast-food giant was forced to shut down half of its outlets temporarily, which amounted to close to 3,000 stores worldwide. This translated to a 48.4% decrease in sales, or 30.7 billion Philippine pesos (S$859 million). And despite reopening 88% of its stores by the end of the second quarter, sales revenue continued to fall, owing to a lack of dine-in customers. However, Jollibee refused to cave in the face of the pandemic. Setting its sights on full business recovery, Jollibee began rebuilding its business, with the incorporation of “major cost improvement” under their business transformation programme. And the efforts have certainly paid off, considering how Jollibee registered a profit of nearly 1 billion Philippine pesos (S$26 million) for the second quarter of 2021. Read Also: Extended Parking Grace Period of 20-Minutes in HDB / URA Carparks Will be Reverted to the Original 10-Minutes Grace Period from 19 Aug SFA Investigating a Home-Based Business After 15 People Had Food Poisoning After Consuming Its Food Featured Image: Dr David Sing / Shutterstock.com