For the quarter ended September 30, 2017, Singapore Post reported revenues of S$355m, up by 10.2% year-on-year.
Growth was primarily driven by gains in the Postal and Logistics divisions. Across the business, revenue from e-commerce related activities increased by 22.3% year-on-year, accounting for 53.6% of revenues overall.
However, operating profit fell by 21.6% to S$29.9m.
Postal revenue increased 16.9% and operating profit rose 5.3% as international mail revenue grew 45.2% on the back of higher cross-border e-commerce deliveries, particularly with stronger volumes from the Alibaba Group. Domestic mail revenue decreased amid continued migration by organisations to electronic statements and bills.
Logistics revenue increased 7.6% as SP Parcels and CouriersPlease made more last-mile deliveries in Singapore and Australia respectively, and as Famous Holdings saw higher freight forwarding volumes. Excluding one-offs, operating profit would have been around S$1.0m, down from S$5.0m last year, reflecting intense pricing competition faced by Quantium Solutions Hong Kong that resulted in loss of business, as well as costs from planned investments.
Mr Paul Coutts, Group Chief Executive Officer, commented: “Our transformation into a leader in postal and eCommerce logistics is moving ahead. The full benefits of our transformation may not be immediate, however we are investing for the long term. As we move into the next phase of our transformation, four themes will guide our focus: Winning in our home market, igniting our future growth engines in Southeast Asia and beyond, extracting full value from our investments, and driving towards cost leadership. The key to realising these opportunities is execution.”
Source: Singapore Post
