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MRT & bus operator SMRT declared on Wednesday a 58.4% rise in net profit for the third quarter of this year. This was helped by higher rental income and a sharp reduction in losses from its bus operations. This S$22.5 million profit was up from the S$14.2 million it earned during the same quarter last year.
SMRT’s overall improved performance was due to an increase in operating profit from train operations and a reduction of operating losses from its bus operations.
It also managed to increase operating profits by driving up business rentals by 11.8 per cent to S$20.7 million, primarily from higher rental renewal rates of commercial spaces.
SMRT said that the future business environment remains challenging due to structural cost pressures arising from tightened regulatory standards and heightened operational demands on service, reliability and capacity.
It did state that the impact of the overall rising costs will be partially mitigated next year by the recently approved fare adjustments, the recent decline in energy prices and the group’s ongoing productivity and cost management efforts.
Why does the PTC approve SMRT’s proposed fare hikes when they are still making profits at the expense of Singaporeans? Most Singaporeans are further puzzled by this strange fare hike especially when train services have yet to hit the reliability standards expected of SMRT and when global fuel prices are falling through the roof.
Singaporeans are unable to understand the logic behind such fare hikes when even airlines such as Air Asia are able to scrap fuel surcharges after the recent drop in fuel prices.
