SBS Transit's full-year profits leap 50.3% to $47.13m

Revenue from public transport services rose 9.8% to $1.14b.

SBS Transit's profits soared 50.3% YoY from $31.35m to $47.13m in 2017.

According to its financial statement, revenue rose 8.5% YoY to $1.19b and operating profit jumped 42.1% YoY to $59.34m.

Revenue from its public transport services segment rose 9.8% to $1.14b, mainly due to a full year contribution of revenue under the Bus Contracting Model (BCM) and higher ridership from rail services with the commencement of Downtown Line (DTL) 3 on 21 October 2017.

This was offset by lower average rail fare from the fare reduction effective 30 December 2016 and lower other operating income.

Average daily ridership for the DTL also climbed by 26.7% to 279,000 passenger trips. Average daily ridership for North-East Line grew by 2% to 576,000 passenger trips and that for the Light Rail Transit by 5.9% to 121,000 passenger trips as compared to that of 2016.

The segment's profit increased by $23.2m.

Meanwhile, revenue from other commercial services of fell 12.4% to $56m due mainly to lower advertising and rental revenue from the loss of Bulim and Loyang Bus Packages. Consequently, operating profit fell 14.5% to $33.4m.