The Singapore Bus Service (SBS) Transit today (August 12) posted a record quarterly net profit of S$6.09 million, 22.8% higher than a year ago. The Q2 result stemmed from high bus fares, approved by the Singapore Government in April, and higher ridership as overcrowding in public transport worsen.
Revenue for SBS bus business jumped 8.8% to S$202.6 million and its operating profit jumped 82.9% to S$7.5 million. Revenue for SBS train business jumped 7% to S$52.3 million and its operating profit take home S$1.2 million.
The average dailyridership for the North-East Line grew 4.9% to 527,000 passenger trips while the Light-Rail Transit (LRT) sees 15.6% jump to 97,000 passenger trips in Q2. Average daily passenger trips for Downtown Line Stage 1 grew by 20.2% to 70,000 passenger trips.
SBS transit raised its interim dividends by 0.4 cents to 1.65 cents per share, and it is a subsidiary of ComfortDelgro. Its biggest shareholder is Temasek Holdings which owns more than 50% of ComfortDelgro. Temasek Holdings’s CEO is the wife of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, while the determination of the public transport fares is decided by the Public Transport Council which is a government statutory board under the Land Transport Authority of the Transport Ministry. In April, the Public Transport Council raised public transport fares by 2.8% which result in today’s record profits in SBS and SMRT. In June, SMRT posted a record profit of S$20.1 million.
Although public transport fares have risen, public transport service quality continue to decline with multiple breakdowns happening every month since the start of 2015. Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew has resigned and there is no replacement in sight.
Source: SBS Annual Report http://www.sbstransit.com.sg/download/sbst_2q2015.pdf
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