Singapore's service industries report 7.8% year-on-year rise in Q2 takings

BUSINESS receipts for the services sector were lifted in the second quarter by the information and communications services industry, according to Department of Statistics Singapore data out on Monday.

Services takings were up by 7.8 per cent year on year, easing slightly from the 8.6 per cent growth in the first quarter, with revenue up in all industries except recreation and personal services.

Information and communications services led the pack, with turnover jumping by 13.5 per cent - expanding from 10.3 per cent in the previous quarter - on higher revenue from software publishing businesses, as well as companies involved in information service activities such as data centre and Web portal services.

Revenue from the financial and insurance industry rose by 10.1 per cent on the year before, lower than the previous quarter's 13.6 per cent growth.

Business services - which includes real estate, legal and accounting, travel agency and security firms - expanded by 7.9 per cent, up from 5.6 per cent in the first quarter.

But the recreation and personal services industry saw revenue decline by 2.8 per cent year on year, after growing by 10.5 per cent previously.

On a quarter-on-quarter, non-seasonally adjusted basis, business receipts grew by 0.5 per cent in the second quarter, up from 0.2 per cent before, with performance mixed across the service industries.

Information and communications revenue was up by 4.4 per cent on the previous quarter, reversing a 1.7 per cent decline, and business services takings increased by 3.3 per cent, also after an earlier 1.7 per cent drop, as both industries saw higher demand.

But finance and insurance firms reported revenue that was flat on the quarter before, while education services recorded an 11.6 per cent decline on the back of a payment cycle where higher education institutions generally collect more fees in the first and third quarter in the year.

Meanwhile, the recreation and personal services industry saw business receipts fall by 9.5 per cent quarter on quarter.

The Business Receipts Index for the services industries excludes wholesale and retail trade and accommodation and food services.

It measures short-term changes in the income earned from business operations, on a quarterly basis.