Keppel Infrastructure Trust net profit down 11.8% to $6.8m

Blame the time lag between tariff adjustments.

Whilst Keppel Infrastructure Trust (KIT) maintained its DPU of 0.93 Scents steady in the past quarter, its net profit went down by 11.8% to $6.8m compared to the previous quarter

According to DBS Vickers Securities, this came as KIT's group revenue went up 2% to $155m. DBS Vickers Securities said this is slightly lower than expected owing to time lag between tariff adjustments and costs at City Gas.

"This was largely due to the time lag in adjustment of gas tariffs with underlying fuel costs at City Gas amid a rising oil price environment last quarter. This is likely to smoothen out over time. The Trust also incurred some one-off abortive expenses in relation to an attempted acquisition in 1Q17, which affected the cash flows to an extent," the brokerage firm said.

This has also led to the decline in its distributable cashflows, which is not at $34.2m, 16% lower than last year.

"Cash flows from other key assets remained stable and the Trust’s newest asset, Data Centre One, contributed to positive cash flows. Basslink also generated positive funds from operations but the Trust does not use these cash flows for distribution purpose" DBS Vickers securities said.