Reinventing Ourselves Touching Lives Hyflux Ltd Annual Report 2007 Contents 03 Message from Group CEO, President and Managing Director 06 Our Global Presence 08 About Hyflux 10 Board of Directors 14 Corporate Senior Management 16 Business Units Senior Management 18 Financial Highlights & Review 24 Corporate Social Responsibility 25 The Year in Review 28 Human Capital 30 Awards & Accolades 32 Our Water Business 38 Our Industrial Manufacturing Processes Business 40 Our Specialty Materials Business 42 Our Energy Business 46 Our Research & Development Financial Report 2007 49 Directors’ Report 55 Statement by Directors 56 Independent Auditors’ Report 57 Consolidated Income Statement 58 Balance Sheets 60 Statements of Changes in Equity 63 Consolidated Cash Flow Statement 67 Notes to the Financial Statements 131 Corporate Governance Statement 141 Supplementary Information 143 Statistics of Shareholdings 144 Substantial Shareholders 145 Notice of Annual General Meeting 149 Notice of Books Closure Proxy form Corporate Information Cover Image (from left to right) Top Row: Freddy Ong (Facilities, Security & Administration), Fadelah Ibrahim (Membrane Production). Middle Row:Joseph Almaraj (Technology, Non-Water), Benedict Lim (Finance), Gerald Manceau (O&M), Tracy Chia (EPC). Bottom Row: Gursharon Kaur (Human Resources), Esther New (CEO Office). OUR VISION OUR VALUES To be the leading company that Boldness the world seeks for innovative and Dare to dream, dare to do and dare effective environmental solutions. to excel. OUR MISSION Entrepreneurship Nurture the entrepreneurial spirit, To provide efficient and cost- embrace challenge and master change. effective solutions to meet our Satisfaction clients’ needs through innovation Exceed internal and external customer and technological advancement. satisfaction, take pride in work and deliver excellence. Testimony Be the face behind the brand, excel in business conduct and embrace best practices in corporate governance. Reinventing Ourselves Touching Lives Hyflux Ltd Annual Report 2007 1 Reinventing Ourselves Touching Lives Since we started our business 19 years ago, we have evolved from selling water treatment systems, to building NEWater plants, raw water treatment plants, and seawater desalination plants, to providing a complete suite of turnkey project solutions. We have also reinvented ourselves. In new ventures like our energy business, we tap on the experience we have gained from our membrane-based solutions for our water business. Through our integrated solutions, our products and services, we touch the lives of many people, customers and stakeholders, directly and indirectly, in both emerging and mature markets. 2 Hyflux Ltd Annual Report 2007 Reinventing Ourselves Touching Lives Message from Group CEO, President and Managing Director “We have to make visible the Hyflux values not seen by others so that we can attract and retain the best people to join us, and deliver what we promise to our shareholders. We will keep pushing the boundary and stretching our limits as we reinvent ourselves to become a global player.” REINVENTING Ourselves The year 2007 was an exciting year for Hyflux as we laid the essential building blocks in human capital, technology platforms and effective capital structures to manage anticipated higher growth. We built on the momentum gained in 2006 in our water and oil recycling businesses, as well as our asset-light strategy. We are glad that we have created significant milestones in these areas in 2007. Thank you for staying with us on this journey as we grew from a modest three-staff company in 1989 to what we are today with over 1,000 staff. Hyflux was the first water company listed in Singapore in January 2001 with a market capitalisation of just over S$50 million. We have since grown more than 30 times. We remain committed to growing shareholder value. In December 2007, we listed the first pure play business trust - Hyflux Water Trust - to focus on water projects, with an initial portfolio of 13 China projects. We are glad to share with shareholders that Hyflux Water Trust has been nominated for the 2008 Global Water Intelligence Deal of the Year. Our business environment remains very positive especially in water. To date, we have a robust pipeline of about 40 plants. With the rapid industrialisation of Asia and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and growing awareness to handle environment issues, we are well positioned for further growth. I am pleased that several new colleagues have joined our management team in the last year bringing their depth and experience to fuel our growth. More importantly, they share my vision and passion for Hyflux and are committed to bring Hyflux to greater heights. Message from Group CEO, President and Managing Director Hyflux Ltd Annual Report 2007 3 In strengthening initiatives in our oil recycling business launched in 2006, we have since collaborated and “Our order book has doubled formed joint ventures with major players in Singapore, to S$863 million in 2007 China, Saudi Arabia, and Vietnam. and the Group has long-term We will continue to set new benchmarks as we expand in our four business pillars: water, industrial operation and maintenance manufacturing processes, specialty materials and energy. As we enlarge our overseas footprints, we will contracts that generate continue to try out new things and new ways of doing things, with the same energy, nimbleness and passion. recurring income for the next We have to make visible the Hyflux values not seen 25 to 30 years.” by others so that we can attract and retain the best people to join us, and deliver what we promise to our shareholders. We will keep pushing the boundary and government placing more emphasis in building water stretching our limits as we reinvent ourselves to become treatment plants throughout the cities. a global player. Since our early pioneering efforts in the China municipal FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE market in 2004, we have today more than 30 projects, 2007 saw the progressive reaping of the fruits of our covering wastewater treatment and water recycling labour planted in 2006. We fulfilled our commitment across China. In line with today’s trend of government of unlocking the value of our water assets with the utilities seeking design-build-operate as well as design- divestment of the SingSpring desalination plant in the build-finance-operate expertise, we are well positioned beginning of the year and the launch of our Hyflux Water to provide our integrated environmental solutions from Trust in year-end. membrane technology to EPC to financing to installation to operation for the burgeoning China market. Our revenue in 2007 jumped by 35% to S$192.8 million with net earnings of S$32.9 million, compared to On the industrial front, we have also been active in the S$142.4 million in revenue with net earnings of S$15.5 biotechnology, chemical, electronics, petrochemical, million in 2006. and pharmaceutical sectors in 26 provinces for more than 12 years, serving some 500 clients. In addition Operating expenses – personnel and development costs to having two L-lactic acid manufacturing facilities in – in 2007 increased in line with our growth. We will China, we are also building used oil recycling centres in continue to invest in human capital which is necessary the country. to support the Group’s expansion plans as well as research and development activities. While we seek We will continue to expand our presence and success in aggressive growth, we practise prudent spending across China, where we have made a name for ourselves. the company amidst increasing costs of goods and fierce competition around the world. Revenue from Middle East & North Africa (MENA) and other regions contributed 12% of the Group’s revenue, Our order book has doubled to S$863 million in close to a two-fold increase from 2006. We expect 2007 and the Group has long-term operation and strong growth from this region. We entered into a joint maintenance contracts that will generate recurring venture (jointly with Malakoff Berhad) with Algerian income for the next 25 to 30 years. Energy Company to design, develop, finance, construct, operate and maintain a seawater desalination plant of PUSHING BOUNDARIES 200,000 m3/day at Tlemcen, Algeria for a period of 25 Our municipal sales increased by 96% to S$89 million years, making this the largest plant to date for Hyflux. in 2007 compared to S$45.3 million in 2006. We This project achieved financial close in January 2008. also registered steady growth in the industrial sector with revenue of S$102.3 million in 2007 compared to SUCCESS IN OUR ENERGY BUSINESS PILLAR S$90.1 million in 2006. China continues to be the key Leveraging on the success of our membrane growth driver, contributing 81% of the total revenue as technologies, 2007 was a year of building a strong compared to 74% in the previous year, with the Chinese foundation for our used oil recycling business. 4 Hyflux Ltd Annual Report 2007 Reinventing Ourselves Touching Lives We will leverage on our technology applications, human talent and financial capabilities, and build long-term shareholder value to drive sustainable growth in our key markets to give us the competitive edge. TOUCHING LIVES At Hyflux, we persist with our ideas and aspirations. The spirit of Hyflux goes beyond the conventional as we have demonstrated over the years. But, what sets us apart is our passion. We always do things with passion. Even as we grow regionally, we remain rooted in our core values as we continue to touch the lives of the millions of people across the globe directly and indirectly benefiting from the solutions we provide. YOUR PARTNERSHIP IS PARAMOUNT We are optimistic about the overall environment on the water, wastewater and used oil recovery sectors in China, India, South East Asia and the MENA region as countries are increasingly seeking solutions to address their environmental and water issues.