Smrt sees 75.5% increase in q2 profits but complains that fare business is “challengi

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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

SMRT SEES 75.5% INCREASE IN Q2 PROFITS BUT COMPLAINS THAT FARE BUSINESS IS “CHALLENGING”

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31 Oct 2014 - 7:46pm








SMRT released data today on their business performance and explained that they have seen a 75.5% increase in profits in Q2 compared to the same time last year.
Their total profits after tax for Q2 were $25.3 million.

Total operating profit also saw a 66.5% increase to become $33.3 million part of this was due to the increased profits that they received from their fare business. Total fare-related profits came in at $5.5 million.

Meanwhile, SMRT increased fares in April this year claiming that they were struggling with rising costs and thus needed to raise fares.

It would seem that they are not really “struggling” at all as they can enjoy $5.5 million in fare profits and a 75.5% rise in overall profits.

Instead, it is commuters who must pay extra per trip to continue allowing SMRT to enjoy massive profits.

Train operations for the quarter saw a $6.6 million increase in profits thanks to higher fares and lower electricity costs. However, SMRT lost a bit of money in the LRT business, losing $700,000 this quarter.

For SMRT’s bus business, they also saw losses of $1.4 million but this is much better than the $7.4 million they lost in the same time last year. The improvement was also thanks to increased fares and also productivity gains.







SMRT said in a statement that despite the good profit figures, "the fare business environment will continue to be challenging owing to heightened operational demands on service, reliability and capacity."

They also explained that they will continue looking for more ways to build up its non-fare businesses including international and out of network opportunities.

The board has declared tan interim dividend of 1.5 cents per ordinary share.

When SMRT had submitted its request to the public transport council last year to raise its fares, it had cited increasing costs, including electricity costs as a need to increase fares.
However, in the report for Q2, they said that they were able to increase profits thanks to reduced electricity costs. Why has the story suddenly changed now that they were approved to raise their fares?

Is it really the case that their fare business is “challenging” or is this simply an excuse to continue pushing for higher fares?


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