CHANGI Airport's biggest ground-handler reported a 7.8 per cent dip in fourth-quarter profits to $42.6 million after business was hit by challenges including higher staff costs and the decision by Australia's Qantas to move its stopover hub for long-haul flights from Singapore to Dubai.

In the three months to March 31, group turnover fell 3.2 per cent to $434.6 million while total spending dropped marginally by 0.5 per cent to $392.9 million, Sats said yesterday.

At Changi Airport where the firm controls more than 80 per cent market share, 6.3 per cent fewer meals were prepared in the three months to March 31 compared to the same quarter last year.

For the full year, profits dipped 2.4 per cent to $180.4 million compared to the earlier 12 months.

Revenues declined 1.8 per cent to $1.79 billion and expenditure by 0.7 per cent to $1.62 billion.

Full-year earnings per share fell to 16.1 cents from 16.6 cents a year earlier, while net asset value per share was $1.27 as at March 31, a slight rise from $1.26 a year earlier.

Sats has proposed a final dividend of eight cents a share, on top of an earlier interim dividend of five cents, taking its full year payout to 13 cents.