This was mainly a result of higher rail ridership and partially offset by the lower service fee rate for five extended negotiated bus contracts, as well as lower fuel indexation.
SBS’s other commercial services contributed the remaining $2.9 million in improvement, mainly from an increase in advertising campaigns due to improved economic conditions.
All remaining Covid-19 restrictions were lifted on Feb 13, during SBS’s 1QFY2023 period.
Operating costs during the quarter increased by 8.3% y-o-y to $351.58 million due to higher fuel and electricity costs as a result of higher average electricity prices and higher overtime costs.
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As a result, operating profit fell 15.6% y-o-y to $16.35 million.
However, profit after tax (PAT) remained relatively stable, improving 1.9% y-o-y to $15.81 million.
Ebitda fell 6.4% y-o-y to $40.18 million.
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During the quarter, ridership for the North-East Line (NEL) and the Downtown Line (DTL) stood at a respective 89% and 88% of its pre-Covid-19 levels respectively, up four percentage points and seven percentage points q-o-q.
In its business update, SBS says that while it expects rail ridership and other commercial services revenue to continue to improve, the company is cautious that a full recovery to pre-pandemic levels may still take time.
In addition, the transport operator notes that bus revenue will reflect the full-year impact of the lower service fees for the five extended negotiated bus packages contracts which came into effect from September 2022
Shares in SBS closed 1 cent or 0.38% down at $2.64 on May 12.
