Asset sale boosts Keppel T&T Q4 profit to S$198.4 million; declares special dividend

KEPPEL Telecommunications & Transportation (Keppel T&T) saw its fourth-quarter net profit surge from S$17.7 million to S$198.4 million on the back of gains from the disposal of its data centre properties in the data centre division.

Revenue for the quarter ended Dec 31, 2014 was 57.6 per cent higher at S$70.9 million.

The firm also declared a special cash dividend of 11.5 Singapore cents in addition to a final cash dividend of 3.5 Singapore cents for the year. In the previous year, a final cash dividend of 3.5 Singapore cents had been declared.

For the full year, Keppel T&T's profit almost quadrupled from S$63.2 million to S$246.6 million, also aided by the gains from disposal of its data centre assets that were spun off into Keppel DC Reit which went public late last year.

"Excluding the one-off gains, the net profit attributable to shareholders would be 14 per cent higher than last year due largely to higher operating profit and share of results of associated companies," Keppel T&T said on Tuesday.

Revenue for the same period stood at S$224.6 million, up 34.6 per cent from the previous year.

Earnings per share for the group stood at 44.4 Singapore cents, up from 11.4 Singapore cents in the previous year.

Keppel T&T's counter closed at 6.5 Singapore cents - or 4.6 per cent - higher at S$1.485 on Tuesday, before its earnings were announced.