ComfortDelGro's operating profit for rail segment crashed 75%

Blame it on higher staff costs.

According to a release, ComfortDelGro's full-year revenue increased by 3.9% to a record $3.55 billion on broad-based growth.

The taxi and bus businesses accounted for over 87% of the growth during the year. The increase in revenue would have been even greater at 4.3% had it not been for the negative translation effect of the weaker Sterling Pound and Australian Dollar.

In line with the growth in revenue, operating profit for the year ended 31 December 2012 increased by 3.3% to $412.3 million.

Full-year net profit attributable to shareholders increased by 5.6% to $248.9 million.

At Group level, full-year revenue from the bus business increased by 2.1% to $1.72 billion. If not for the negative foreign currency translation effect, revenue from the Group’s bus business would have grown by 2.9% or $48.5 million.

In Singapore, bus revenue at SBS Transit increased by 6.1% to $600.9 million as average daily ridership grew by 3.1% - more than compensating for a 0.5% drop in average fares. If bus advertising and rental income were included, total revenue would be 5.9% higher at $638.9 million.

For its core bus business, however, SBS Transit fell deeper into the red, incurring an operating loss of $14.7 million compared to $6.0 million previously.

The Group’s unscheduled bus business in Singapore recorded an 8.4% decrease in revenue to $22.9 million in 2012 due mainly to fewer contract and ad hoc jobs.

At Group level, full-year revenue for the taxi business increased by 7.8% to $1.12 billion. In Singapore, revenue from the taxi business was 10.1% higher at $824.5 million due to higher rental income from a larger fleet, an increase in new replacement taxis and a higher volume of cashless transactions.

Revenue from the rail business increased by 3.0% to $138.6 million as ridership for both the North East Line (NEL) and the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Systems grew.

Average daily ridership for NEL and the Sengkang and Punggol LRTs increased by 6.0% to 452,900 and 17.8% to 70,500 respectively.

If advertising and rental income was included, total revenue would be $153.2 million, representing an increase of 4.2% over the previous year.

Operating profit for the rail business fell by 75.0% to $4.9 million due to higher staff costs resulting from the start-up of the Downtown Line, and higher repair and maintenance costs for the NEL. Including advertising and rental income, total operating profit decreased by 48.4% to $14.3 million.

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