ComfortDelGro (CDG) has reported earnings of $39.1 million for the 2HFY2021 ended December, 42% lower than earnings of $67.4 million in the corresponding period the year before.
In the FY2021, however, earnings surged 114% y-o-y to $130.1 million from earnings of $60.8 million in the FY2020.
Earnings per share (EPS) for the 2HFY2021 and FY2021 stood at 1.80 cents and 6 cents respectively.
Revenue for the 2HFY2021 stood 5.1% up y-o-y at $1.80 billion due to an increase of $64.6 million from the group’s underlying businesses and favourable currency translation of $22.3 million from the stronger British pound, Australian dollar (AUD) and Chinese renminbi (RMB).
Group operating costs for the 2HFY2021 increased by 8.0% y-o-y to $1.72 billion due to the increase of $109.3 million from the group’s underlying businesses and the unfavourable foreign currency translation of $18.1 million from the stronger pound, AUD and RMB.
2HFY2021 group operating profit fell 34.9% y-o-y to $75.4 million due to $44.7 million from underlying businesses, partially offset by net positive impact from the foreign currency translation of $4.2 million.
See also: Trump wins Republican nomination, setting up rematch with Biden
Excluding the Covid-19 government reliefs of $27.4 million for the 2HFY2021, CDG’s operating profit was 66.1% higher y-o-y at $48.0 million.
Operating profit from overseas for 2HFY2021 was $37.0 million or 49.1% of group operating profit, compared to $25.5 million or 22.0% for 2HFY2020.
Group profit before tax fell 35.5% y-o-y in the 2HFY2021 to $73.0 million.
Segmentally, CDG’s public transport service business grew 7.4% y-o-y to $1.45 billion on the back of improved ridership in Singapore. Its operating profit fell 29.7% y-o-y to $48.2 million mainly due to lower government reliefs, the one-off disposal loss of 241 diesel buses in Singapore Public Transport as part of Downtown Line Transition, and partially offset by improved ridership in Singapore.
Revenue from CDG’s taxi business in the 2HFY2021 fell 10.9% y-o-y to $200.2 million due to higher Covid-19 rental discounts and a smaller fleet size in Singapore. Operating profit plunged 85.0% y-o-y to $0.6 million mainly due to lower revenues.
Revenue from the group’s automotive engineering services business increased 9.3% y-o-y to $88.9 million on the back of higher fuel revenues from higher oil prices. Operating profit fell 51.0% y-o-y to $5.1 million on lagging pump price adjustments on the back of the oil price increases.
Revenue from the group’s inspection and testing services business stood 10.4% up y-o-y at $51.8 million due to recovery in activity levels for non-vehicles testing. Operating profit fell 10.5% y-o-y to $15.4 million due to lower government reliefs in spite of the higher business volumes.
Revenue from CDG’s driving centre business fell 0.4% y-o-y to $25.7 million, while operating profit fell 51.0% y-o-y to $4.8 million mainly due to the impairment provision recognised in China Driving Centre Business which is being disposed and lower government reliefs.
Revenue from the group’s car rental and leasing business dipped 1.5% y-o-y to $12.9 million, while operating profit fell 23.5% y-o-y.
Revenue from its bus station business fell 38.2% y-o-y to $5.5 million due to the travel restrictions imposed in 2HFY2021. The business operated at breakeven for 2H2021 as compared to an operating Profit of $4.2 million for 2HFY2020.
For more stories about where money flows, click here for Capital Section
In the FY2021, revenue rose 9.1% y-o-y to $3.54 billion as demand for CDG’s services increased from the virtual standstill in FY2020.
Growth in the group’s underlying business accounted for $215.5 million or 72.9% of the increase in revenue while a favourable foreign currency translation of $80.2 million accounted for the rest.
As at Dec 31, cash and cash equivalents stood at $919.1 million.
For the period, the group has declared a final dividend of 2.10 cents per share, higher than the 1.43 cents declared in the 2HFY2020.
This brings the total dividend per share in the FY2021 to 4.20 cents.
The proposed final dividend will be payable on May 27.
“It has been another challenging year but the high global vaccination rate has helped economic recovery through the easing of social restrictions and the reopening of borders. As a transport operator, we have certainly benefitted from the increases in economic activity but we are not out of the woods yet,” says CDG’s managing director and CEO Yang Ban Seng.
“Demand has not reached pre-Covid levels as many workers continue to work from home and social restrictions remain in force in many geographies. But, we remain hopeful that global recovery will continue. In the meantime, we will continue to reinvent ourselves by further embracing technology, investing in human capital and rolling out new and innovative service offerings. Our digitalisation, electrification and sustainability efforts have intensified over the year and will continue to gain momentum going forward,” he adds.
“While dealing with the day-to-day challenges of operating in a pandemic, we made sure that we did not lose sight of our longer-term strategy of expanding into new avenues of growth by leveraging on our core strengths,” says CDG group chairman Lim Jit Poh.
“Several key developments took place during the year which are of significance, not just now, but going forward. They are our successful bid to operate rail services in Auckland, New Zealand; our successful bids in Singapore to offer electric vehicle (EV) charging services and to operate electric private buses; our entry into the logistics business in China through the formation of a cement transportation joint venture as well as our expansion in the medical transport business. Going forward, we will continue to grow our external wing and explore more partnerships with like-minded companies. We will double down on manpower recruitment which is essential to long-term growth,” Lim adds.
Shares in CDG closed 1 cent lower or 0.7% down at $1.41 on Feb 28.
Photo: CDG
