SBS Transit brings home higher net profit for Q2

TRANSPORT operator SBS Transit on Thursday reported a net profit of S$7.25 million, up 19 per cent year on year, for the second quarter ended June 30.

Revenue edged up 5.6 per cent to S$269 million, largely due to increased revenue from its rail business. Revenue from the rail segment was 24.6 per cent higher at S$65.1 million due to higher average daily ridership after the commencement of revenue service of Downtown Line 2. This was offset by lower average fare for North-East Line (NEL) and Light Rail Transit (LRT) due to the fare reduction from Dec 27 last year.

Earnings per share for the quarter clocked 2.34 cents, up from 1.97 cents a year ago.

For the first six months, net profit jumped 41.2 per cent to S$15.33 million while revenue edged up 6.1 per cent to S$532.48 million.

An interim dividend of 2.35 Singapore cents per share has been declared. This represents an increase over the dividend of 1.65 cents paid out in the previous financial year.