Singapore Post announces 9.5% fall in Q2 profit
Singapore’s dominant postal services group, Singapore Post Ltd, on Tuesday announced a 9.5 per cent fall in second-quarter net profit at S$24.19 million from a year ago.
Last year’s net profit for the same quarter was S$26.75 million.
SingPost’s revenue fell 2.3 per cent to S$89.2 million as international mail revenue dropped, which the company attributed to “a deliberate attempt to weed out unprofitable mailing.”
The company, which runs about 63 post offices across Singapore, said the second quarter was “more stable” than the first quarter, when net profit was S$23.66 million, as the SARS outbreak took a toll on the economy.
Group profit for the first six months was down 10.5 per cent at S$47.84 million.
Looking ahead, SingPost expects the second half to be better than the first half of the year due to repayment of a term loan, the swap of its bond fixed coupon rates to floating rates as well as a cut in pension fund contributions.
The postal operator also expects direct mail to drive growth in the domestic mail sector when business activities improve.
