Singapore Post's third-quarter net profit rose 37.2 per cent to $43 million on better performance in its postal, e-commerce and property segments and from a one-off $6.9 million adjustment from changes in the United States corporate tax rate.
Excluding exceptional items, underlying net profit rose 11.9 per cent to $35.2 million for the three months ended December. Earnings per share for the quarter stood at 1.73 cents, up from 1.28 cents previously.
For its third quarter, the company declared a dividend of 0.5 cent per ordinary share, which will be paid on Feb 28. This is similar to what was declared one year ago.
Revenue grew 11.7 per cent to $412.8 million, with activities related to e-commerce a strong driver.
Revenue from e-commerce was up 19.7 per cent to $97.1 million, as its USe-commerce unit Jagged Peak saw its revenue rise 43.9 per cent amid surging volume over the US peak shopping season from October to December. TradeGlobal overcame the loss in revenue from two major customers as previously disclosed and grew revenue marginally in the third quarter, aided by the addition of new customers.
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AT A GLANCE
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NET PROFIT:
$43 million (+37.2%)REVENUE:
$412.8 million (+11.7%)DIVIDEND PER SHARE:
0.5 cent (Unchanged)
In the postal segment, revenue rose 15.8 per cent to $166 million in the third quarter, as strong growth in international mail revenue helped to offset the decline in domestic mail revenue.
Logistics revenue was up 1.5 per cent to $173.9 million, as SP Parcels and Couriers Please's revenue increased last-mile delivery volume in Singapore and Australia respectively. Famous Holdings' revenue grew in line with higher freight forwarding volumes.
Rental and property-related income increased 52.9 per cent, driven by rental income from the SingPost Centre retail mall that was opened in October last year.
Committed occupancy was 85.9 per cent as at Dec 31, up from 80.4 per cent as at Sept 30.
Group chief executive officer Paul Coutts said: "Good execution across the group saw us capture the benefits of a festive peak season in which e-commerce volumes made new records globally... We will move ahead with our strategy to become a leading postal and e-commerce logistics company to realise the full potential of our transformation."
At the end of trading yesterday, SingPost was up 8 cents at $1.38.