SBS Transit has reported revenue of $344.07 million for the 1QFY2022 ended March, 8.5% higher than revenue of $316.98 million.
This was due to the higher revenue from the transport operator’s public transport services revenue, and offset by revenue from other commercial services.
The higher public transport services was mainly due to the higher service fee arising from higher fuel indexation and higher other operating income. The higher revenue for the segment was offset by lower mileage.
1QFY2022 revenue for SBS’s public transport services increased by 8.98% y-o-y to $333.5 million, while revenue for other commercial services fell 3.47% y-o-y to $10.6 million.
Operating costs during the quarter increased by 11.2% y-o-y to $324.70 million due to higher staff costs on the back of the absence of the government wage subsidies from the government and lower savings from the wage credit scheme.
High fuel and electricity costs due to higher average diesel and electricity prices also contributed to the higher operating costs.
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As a result, operating profit fell 22.2% y-o-y to $19.37 million.
Excluding government reliefs, operating profit for the 1QFY2022 would have been up by 205.5% y-o-y.
Similarly, profit after tax (PAT) fell 33.5% y-o-y to $15.51 million.
EBITDA fell 14.7% y-o-y to $42.9 million.
During the quarter, ridership for the North-East Line (NEL) and the Downtown Line (DTL) stood at a respective 67% and 62% of its pre-Covid-19 levels, up four percentage points and seven percentage points q-o-q.
In the same quarter, SBS announced that it has accepted the offer from the Land Transport Authority (LTA) of a two-year extension for the tendered Seletar Bus Package. The extension will begin on March 11, 2023.
In its business update, SBS says it expects rail ridership and other commercial services revenue to improve looking ahead.
In addition, the transport operator revealed that the fare increase of 2.2% from Dec 26, 2021, was unable to cover the rising electricity costs, “especially with the absence of the jobs support scheme relief in 2022”.
Shares in SBS closed flat at $2.87 on May 13.
