Jardine Matheson stands by guidance after 'solid' first quarter
Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd on Friday said its quarterly performance was marginally better than expected.
The Hong Kong-based holding company, which has interests in retail, property, hotels and motor dealerships, said its portfolio delivered a solid performance in the first quarter of 2026.
This was marginally ahead of expectations and in line with the first quarter of 2025, Jardine Matheson said. This was after adjusting ‘for disposals at DFI Retail and the shift to accounting for Zhongsheng as an investment rather than an associate.’
The firm said it continues to expect full-year profit in line with 2025, adjusted for business disposals, and anticipates declaring a full-year dividend of at least US$2.45 per share. This would be 4.3% higher than the US$2.35 payout in 2025, for which Jardine Matheson also reported net profit of US$1.11 billion and pretax profit of US$4.20 billion.
‘We are progressing our programme of recycling capital, exiting below-hurdle assets, and deploying capital toward businesses - existing and new - that improve our quality of earnings,’ the company said. Jardine and its portfolio companies recycled around $800 million in capital and reinvested $1.2 billion during the quarter, it added.
Highlights in Jardine Matheson’s portfolio include Astra reporting an 8% decrease in net profit for the first quarter, with higher profits for its financial services, agribusiness and infrastructure businesses offset by lower ones for the new car sector and United Tractors. Also, Hongkong Land reported a 5% on-year rise in underlying profit and ‘mildly improved’ full-year guidance, and DFI Retail reported a 13% increase in underlying profit while reaffirming full-year guidance.
Jardine said the parent company balance sheet remained at net cash as of March 31, ‘providing significant flexibility for new investments.’
It also said it has reduced its corporate overhead by around 15% compared to 2024, as part of its ‘our continuing focus on operational and cost efficiencies as we evolve into a lean investment company’.
Jardine Matheson shares were untraded at $58.38 on Friday in London, having last traded on Wednesday. The stock has lost 6.6% over the last 12 months.
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