The company plans to pay an interim dividend of 0.34 cents per share, up 89% from 1HFY2024's 0.18 cents and equivalent to a payout ratio of 30%.
“Our first-half results demonstrate the resilience across our businesses, despite the challenging market conditions. We are focused on executing our strategic initiatives to maximise shareholder value," says group CEO Vincent Phang.
A key driver of higher revenue was from the consolidation of recently-acquired Border Express in Australia, which brings the topline Down Under to $574.9 million, up 44.1% y-o-y. Operating profit, meanwhile, was up 30.2% to $30.4 million.
Its Singapore operations, which used to be the company's core before the series of acquisitions in Australia, generated revenue of $129.6 million, up 12.4% y-o-y thanks to higher postage rates implemented last October, which helped to offset the ongoing drop in letter mail volume.
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"While the delivery business has improved significantly, profitability continues to be impacted by the post office network which remains unprofitable.
"There were also one-off costs for investments in technology capabilities and upgrades of legacy systems in the first half," adds SingPost.
As such, the Singapore business still recorded an operating loss of $0.9 million compared to a loss of $14.7 million previously.
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According to SingPost, it is finalising an operating model with the authorities to ensure the long-term commercial viability of postal services.
SingPost shares closed at 56 cents on Nov 5, up 0.91% for the day.
