
ComfortDelGro's profit sped up 6% to $68.9m
Thanks to lower fuel costs.
According to OCBC, ComfortDelGro’s (CDG) 2Q13 results were in line with expectations. Higher bus/rail ridership and rental income from its taxi fleet boosted revenue by 2.7% YoY to S$908.4m while operating profit grew by 6.0% to S$112.6m as lower fuel costs helped to improve operating margin (12.4% vs. 12.0% in 2Q12) and offset higher staff costs.
2Q13 PATMI came in 6.0% higher YoY at S$68.9m. For 1H13, CDG announced an interim dividend of 3 S cents (vs. 2.9 S cents for 1H12).
Here's more from OCBC:
For 2H13, we expect continued revenue growth for SG operations (bus, rail and taxi) while Australia and UK bus operations should see slight increments from contributions of recent acquisitions.
Cost pressures related to higher staff costs (ramp up of Downtown Line etc) are to be expected but the current fuel environment and hedges in place should help to mitigate the impact on operating margins.