Temasek Holdings, the Singapore state investment company, suffered a 31 per cent fall in the value of its portfolio from S$185bn ($123bn) to S$127bn in the eight months to the end of November last year, the government said yesterday.
The disclosure by a government minister in parliament about Temasek's performance for the first eight months of its fiscal year provided an advanced look at how the group has fared in the global financial turmoil. Temasek normally waits until five or six months after the close of the fiscal year to reveal its results.
In the past 18 months, Temasek made high-profile investments in several western financial groups, including Merrill Lynch and Barclays, whose share prices have since fallen sharply.