SingPost’s revenue for the first quarter saw a 3.3% increase to S$372.6m (US$273.2m) as international mail and last-mile deliveries grow, driven by e-commerce, and property rental income rose.
Net profit declined to S$18.7m (US$13.7m), down 40.4% on the previous year. This decline has been credited to ‘an exceptional fair value loss on warrants from an associated company’, reflecting changes in the market value of the financial instrument, and higher tax. Excluding one-off items, operating profit rose 1.2% to S$39.2m (US$28.7m).
Paul Coutts, Group CEO at SingPost, said, “As strong growth in global e-commerce drives cross-border and last-mile deliveries, we are focused on executing well to keep up our operational momentum as we transform SingPost for the future.”
International mail and parcel revenue rose on higher cross-border and Singapore e-commerce deliveries, mitigating lower domestic letter mail volumes. While measures to mitigate the impact of higher terminal dues have been implemented, international mail margins were lower compared to last year, resulting in a 3.8% decline in post and parcel operating profit.
Logistics revenue decreased 2.2% due largely to lower freight forwarding volumes. The segment reversed an operating loss of S$2.5m (US$1.8m) last year, attributed mainly to a turnaround at Quantium Solutions, where losses were reduced by 44.6%.