ComfortDelGro

ComfortDelGro

Type	Public SGX: C52
Industry	Land transport Automotive engineering Vehicle inspection Outdoor advertising Insurance brokerage
Founded	Singapore, 2003 after merger between two companies
Headquarters	Singapore
Key people	Lim Jit Poh (Chairman and Director) Kua Hong Pak (Managing Director and Group Chief Executive Officer)
Products	Transport-related services in 7 countries
Revenue	S$3.02 billion SGD (2007)
Operating income	S$334.8 million SGD (2007)
Net income	S$223.0 million SGD (2007)
Employees	22 300 (2007)
Website	http://www.comfortdelgro.com.sg

ComfortDelGro Corporation Limited SGX: C52 is the world's second-largest transport company with a fleet of 46,200 vehicles.

Headquartered in Singapore, ComfortDelGro also has operations in China, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, Vietnam and Malaysia. Currently, overseas ventures account for 50% of the company's revenue. The Group intends to derive 70% of its total revenue from abroad in the next five years.

The company owns several subsidiaries worldwide. SBS Transit, one of the leading bus operators in Singapore, VICOM Limited, a vehicle-inspection and testing-service provider, ComfortDelGro Driving Centre, a training centre for motorcars and motorcycle learners, Metroline (UK), Vinataxi (Vietnam), and other transport-related companies. It also has operations in Australia (Westbus Group, Holroyd Bus Lines, Toronto Bus Services and Kefford Group) and China.

Singapore operations

Bus & Rail

A Volvo Super Olympian demonstrator that is bodied by ComfortDelgro Engineering and is owned by SBS Transit in Singapore.

A Volvo B9TL WAB in service with SBS Transit in Singapore.

ComfortDelGro owns 75% of SBS Transit, which is listed separately on the Singapore Exchange. SBS Transit is the largest scheduled public-bus operator in Singapore with more than 2,800 buses on 242 routes, operates the North East Line, Sengkang and Punggol LRT Line. ComfortDelGro also has ComfortDelGro Bus as a private-bus charter subsidiary. It is the largest private land-transport company in Singapore, serving over 200 local contract customers. ComfortDelGro Bus also offers tour-chartering services into Peninsular Malaysia.

Taxi

Comfort and CityCab, both taxi companies belonging to ComfortDelGro Corporation Limited, are the largest players in Singapore's taxi industry with a combined fleet of about 15,000 taxis. The ComfortDelGro taxi booking system, wirelessly connects the taxis using the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) technology via the in-vehicle Mobile Data Terminals (MDTs). Today, its state-of-the-art Customer Contact Centre caters to over 20 million taxi bookings annually.

Car rental

ComfortDelGro Rent-A-Car operates as a car-rental and leasing-service provider in Singapore with a fleet of more than 1,200 vehicles.

Automotive engineering & vehicle inspection

ComfortDelGro Engineering handles more than 15,000 taxis, over 3,000 private passenger cars and 2,000 commercial vehicles every month. It is currently the authorised workshop for 17 insurance companies in Singapore. VICOM Limited operates seven vehicle-inspection and seven assessment centres in Singapore for accident vehicles. ComfortDelGro Driving Centre is a partnership with Chofu Driving School of Japan. The centre provides driving instruction for motorcars, motorcycles, bus and taxi vocational licences as well as corporate training.

Outdoor advertising

Moove Media was formed in 2005 through the merger of Comfort Ads and SBS Transit Advertising. It offers a range of advertising platforms which numbers to more than 2,800 buses, over 15,000 taxis, 14 rail stations and numerous prime ambience sites.

Overseas operations

Bus

An Enviro400 in service with London operator Metroline, owned by the ComfortDelGro Corporation.

China

In China, 460 public buses on 18 routes in Shanghai are operated through the joint-venture company, Shanghai Shen Xin Bus Service Ltd. Shenyang ComfortDelGro Anyun Bus (the operating right belongs to Shenyang Anyun Group) operates a fleet of over 300 buses. Another company - Shenyang ComfortDelGro Bus Co, Ltd. - operates more than 20 bus routes and have taken over ownership of the routes and operating assets from the state-owned Shenyang Passenger Transport Group.

UK

See also: Bus transport in the United Kingdom and Scottish Citylink

Various operations are owned in the United Kingdom. In London, ComfortDelGro owns the Metroline, Armchair and Thorpes subsidiaries which run London Bus services under contract to Transport for London's London Buses unit. Since taking over Armchair in 2005, it has seen more cross-cooperation between the two London-based companies. In 2006, ComfortDelGro entered into a joint-venture agreement with Stagecoach Group for the operation of express-coach services in Scotland and between Scotland and England under the Scottish Citylink and Megabus brands.

Ireland

In Ireland, the Group operates the Citylink inter-city coach services in Dublin, Galway, Limerick and Cork.

Australia

In 2005, ComfortDelGro acquired the businesses and assets of the largest bus operator, the Westbus Group in Australia's most populous state, New South Wales. This venture marks ComfortDelGro's entry into the Australian market. ComfortDelGro's partner in this venture is Cabcharge Australia Limited who owns 49% of ComfortDelGro Cabcharge Pty Ltd.

In July 2006, through its subsidiary, ComfortDelGro Cabcharge, the group acquired the assets and bus routes of Holroyd Bus Lines Pty Ltd. Holroyd Bus Lines operates in the Metropolitan Region 3 area of New South Wales. The Group then acquired the assets and businesses of Toronto Bus Services, a bus and coach operator in the Newcastle region of New South Wales, in July 2007.

In November 2008, Cabcharge Australia and the Group acquired the fourth largest bus operator, Kefford Group in the state of Victoria for A$149.2 million.

Taxi

In China, ComfortDelGro operates taxi services in 11 cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Shenyang, Chengdu, Yantai, Hengyang, Suzhou, Xiamen, Nanning, Nanjing and Jilin City with a total fleet of close to 8,800 vehicles.

In the United Kingdom, Computer Cab in London, Computer Cab (Edinburgh) and Computer Cab (Aberdeen) operate close to 4,000 taxis. Computer Cab has four brands – ComCab, DataCab, Call-A-Cab and Local Taxis, each with a clear identity and providing 24/7 taxi services. ComfortDelGro also owns Onward Travel Limited, a private car-hire business in Edinburgh, Scotland. It has 160 owned-drivers on its circuit and operates an exclusive airport-taxi rank concession from Edinburgh Airport. In 2007, ComfortDelGro acquired another licensed-taxi and private-hire company in Birmingham. The company has since been renamed Computer Cab (Birmingham) Ltd.

In Vietnam, a fleet of 967 taxis are operated by Vietnam Taxi in Ho Chi Minh City. Another joint venture with former state-owned enterprise Saigon General Service Corporation (Savico) for the establishment of ComfortDelGro Savico Taxi operates more than 300 taxis, a call centre, as well as a workshop which repairs and maintains the taxi fleet.

Car rental & automotive engineering

In China, a fleet of more than 900 vehicles is operated by Beijing ComfortDelGro Yin Jian Auto Services. ComfortDelGro owns Sichuan ComfortDelGro Car Servicing in Chengdu. Also, Chengdu Jitong Integrated Vehicle Inspection and Beijing Tian Long Da Tian Vehicle Inspection were acquired in 2004. It now operates a vehicle-inspection centre and sales of automotive parts and components in Chengdu and offers vehicle-safety inspection and emission-inspection services in Beijing, China.

In Malaysia, ComfortDelGro offers car-leasing and rental services through CityLimo Leasing (M) Sdn Bhd, Pantas Rent-A-Car Sdn Bhd and DynaDrive Rent-A-Car Sdn Bhd. The Group currently operates 460 vehicles in the capital.

Car dealership

In Suzhou, China, a joint-venture company was set up with Suzhou Auto Hiring Company to move into the Toyota car-distribution business. The business is doing well with 1,004 cars sold in 2007. The company capped the year by winning Toyota's Number One Dealer award, beating more than 230 other authorised dealers in China.

See also

• Public transport in Singapore
• Singapore Exchange
• List of bus operators of the United Kingdom

References

External links

• ComfortDelGro