SPH announced that 2Q17 PATMI dipped by 1.2% y-o-y to $53.5 million but group recurring earnings on an operating level declined 22.2% y-o-y to $53.0 million.
In terms of the topline, group operating revenue fell 8.2% y-o-y to $238.0 million mostly due to weaker contributions from the media business which fell 11.9% y-o-y.
1H17 ad revenues declined 16.8% y-o-y on continued headwinds in its operating environments due to the slowing economy and the unabated disruption of the media industry.
Revenues from display and classified ads similarly fell 17.5% and 14.4% y-o-y, respectively.
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The management team has focused on cost management and total costs for the quarter fell 3.8% y-o-y to $188.7 million despite inflationary pressures.
1H17 staff costs dipped 0.9% y-o-y to $182.4 million as headcount as at end Feb 2017 stood at 4,041 which was 5% lower than the 4,255 last year.
The group’s property segment pulled in stable numbers with revenues inching up 1.3% y-o-y as rental income rose and net property income grew 5.9% to $93.9 million.
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All three retail assets held by SPH, namely, The Paragon, The Clementi Mall and The Seletar Mall, enjoyed 100% occupancy and positive rental reversions over the quarter.
“We deem this set of results to be marginally below our expectations and we tweak our FY17 net income forecast down by 6% to $216.0 million to reflect the difficult business conditions the group is facing currently,” says Lee.
An interim dividend of 6 cents per share was declared.
Shares of SPH are down 4 cents at $3.42.
