ComfortDelGro posts 23.8% rise in Q1 net profit on higher fees and fares
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ComfortDelGro attributed its earnings to higher revenue generated from its public transport, taxi and private-hire vehicles.
PHOTO: ST FILE
Yong Jun Yuan
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SINGAPORE - Land transport conglomerate ComfortDelGro on May 14 posted a 23.8 per cent rise in year-on-year profit after tax and minority interests (Patmi) to $40.6 million in the first quarter ended March 31, 2024, from $32.8 million a year earlier.
Revenue rose 10.8 per cent to $1 billion, from $906.4 million over the same period.
The company attributed this to higher revenue generated by its public transport, taxi and private-hire vehicles, as well as other private transport segments.
Meanwhile, it attributed its increased Patmi to lower rental discounts in Singapore and China. It also noted that its Patmi margin for the quarter rose to 4 per cent, from 3.6 per cent a year ago.
The company also began charging platform fees for bookings made via its CDG Zig app here from July 1, 2023, as well as higher taxi commission rates and fares from December 2023.
The stronger results came despite public transport contract renewals in Australia coming in at lower margins, and lower taxi and private-hire booking volumes of about seven million, from about eight million a year earlier.
ComfortDelGro also saw net interest income rise to $7.6 million due to additional dividends from Australian taxi network operator A2B Australia, from $4 million a year earlier.
The company had announced in December last year that it would acquire all shares that it does not own in A2B Australia for A$165.1 million (S$147.7 million). A2B Australia shareholders voted in favour of the deal on March 25.
Still, ComfortDelGro’s net cash position as at March 31, 2024, fell to $437.4 million, from $497.5 million in December 2023.
It attributed this to an increase in borrowings and a reduction of available facilities due to the acquisition of Britain-based transport management specialist CMAC Group, which was concluded in February 2024.
In the first quarter of 2024, the company noted that it received four bus franchises in Greater Manchester comprising 232 different services served by 420 buses and over 1,350 employees. The expansion will add to a 30 per cent increase in the company’s public bus portfolio in London.
Shares of ComfortDelGro fell 0.7 per cent to $1.44 on May 14, before its financial results were released. THE BUSINESS TIMES
