Keppel Infrastructure Trust's Q1 earnings rise 5.2%

LOWER fuel costs both helped and hindered Keppel Infrastructure Trust in its first quarter of FY2016, having contributed to lower revenue but also lower expenses.

Net profit for the Singapore infrastructure business trust rose 5.2 per cent year on year to S$2.66 million for the three months ended June 30, the trust said on Tuesday.

This gain was despite a 14.2 per cent tumble in revenue to S$114.39 million over the same period.

Revenue was hurt by lower town gas tariffs brought about by a slump in fuel costs, said the trust, formerly known as CitySpring Infrastructure Trust. CitySpring absorbed the former Keppel Infrastructure Trust in May this year and also took on its name.

However, fuel and electricity costs also came down, which lifted its bottom line.

It declared a distribution per unit (DPU) of 0.25 Singapore cent for the May 29-June 30 period. This was separate from the stub DPU of 0.4235 Singapore cent from April 1 to May 17, which was paid on May 26, and another stub DPU of 0.11 Singapore cent from May 18 to 28, which was paid on June 8.

These three DPUs for the quarter add up to a combined 0.7835 Singapore cents, which is lower than the 0.82 Singapore cent DPU the trust paid out in Q1 2015.

The trust's manager said in a statement it would continue to look out for acquisition opportunities.

It bought a 51 per cent stake in Keppel Merlimau Cogen from Keppel Corp for S$510 million in May.