Singapore Post (SingPost) has reported earnings of$35.05 million for the 1HFY2021 ended September, 13.3% higher y-o-y, while underlying net profit stood at $37.4 million, up 18.8% y-o-y.
The company has declared an interim dividend of 0.5 cents per ordinary share, to be paid on Nov 30.
Revenue for the 1HFY2021 rose 3.3% y-o-y to $713.4 million, led by growth in the domestic post and parcel, logistics and property segments, offset by a reduction in the international post and parcel segment.
See: SingPost aims to deliver the ‘Future of Post’; SATS seeks out new growth areas
Vincent Phang, group CEO of SingPost, says the improvement in performance, despite the continued Covid-19 challenges, is in part due to the acceleration of eCommerce adoption.
The domestic post and parcel business saw delivery revenue growth of 32% in 1HFY2021, which was able to offset the continued double-digit mail revenue decline, ECommerce revenue now accounts for 40% of the domestic business, up from 32% from a year ago.
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Meanwhile, SingPost’s international post and parcel segment continues to be impacted by Covid-19-related disruptions, with revenue declining 26.6% in 1HFY2021.
The company’s logistics segment recorded revenue growth of 29.6% for the 1HFY2021, while the property segment saw revenu growth of 7.9% to $59.8 million, largely due to lower rental rebates provided for eligible tenants, as well as higher receipts from car-park and other charges.
Group operating profit increased by 28.4% during the 1HFY2021 to $51.09 million, driven by strong contributions from the logistics and property segments of $16.2 million (+184%) and $26.6 million (+13.5%) respectively.
In the announcement of its financial results, SingPost highlighted its accelerated investment in Australia. “We are accelerating our growth plans for our eCommerce logistics business, as demonstrated by our reaching an agreement to bring forward the plan to increase our shareholding in Freight Management Holdings (FMH) in Australia from 28% to 51%,” Phang says.
Upon completion of the transaction, FMH will become a subsidiary of SingPost, which the company says will bolster its investment into building a second home market in Australia.
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SingPost also announced the promotions of Neo Su Yin and Ryan Tang as CEOs of the Singapore and International businesses respectively. Prior to this, Neo was the head of the domestic post and parcel business and is responsible for the integration of the postal and eCommerce delivery operations in Singapore, as well as leading the Future of Post programme; while Ryan was the head of quantium solutions Southeast Asia and is responsible for driving our logistics operations across the region.
SingPost shares closed down 0.5 cents or 0.75% lower at 66 cents on Nov 2.
Photo: The Edge Singapore
