Shareholders not to read too much into how Singtel is involved in SingPost, says new chief

[SINGAPORE] Singapore Post ’s (SingPost) new chief Mark Chong – previously group chief corporate officer at Singtel – suggested that the market “not to read too much into how Singtel is involved in SingPost” simply because he was from the postal agency’s largest shareholder.

At SingPost’s media briefing on Monday (Nov 10) for its first half-year financial results, Chong – who joined the mainboard-listed company as group chief executive officer on Nov 1 – revealed that he went through a selection process conducted by SingPost’s board that had looked at international and local candidates.

“So I participated in the process and was offered the job. This is pretty much it. I would suggest maybe not to read too much into how Singtel is involved in SingPost. They are the largest shareholder, no doubt. But the details, frankly, I have nothing to offer,” the 62-year-old added.

Before Chong’s appointment, a shareholder had at an earlier SingPost annual general meeting queried Singtel’s views on the national postal service provider, hoping to know if the largest shareholder has any plans to help lift SingPost out of the structural decline it is facing.

SingPost posted a 12.8 per cent drop in net profit to S$19.7 million for its first half-year of FY2026 ended Sep 30, from S$22.6 million in the previous corresponding period.

An interim dividend of S$0.0008 per share was declared for the half year, down from S$0.0034 per share the year before. The dividend will be paid on Dec 5, after books closure on Nov 25.

The earnings drop was mainly due to the lack of contributions from the divested Australia business, which had offset the exceptional gains from other divestments in the half year, the postal service provider said on Monday (Nov 10).

Earnings per share from the continuing and discontinued operations, excluding distributions to holders of perpetual securities, stood at S$0.0063 for the period, down from S$0.0076 in the previous year.

The discontinued operations refer to the Australian logistics business under SingPost Australia Investments and its subsidiaries, as well as the freight-forwarding business of Famous Holdings, Rotterdam Harbour Holding and subsidiaries of Quantium Solutions Group.

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Revenue for H1 from the continuing operations of logistics and letters, the post office network and property assets fell 27.4 per cent to S$188.4 million, from S$259.6 million a year earlier.

Only the property assets segment was profitable. Both segments of logistics and letters, and the post office network were in the red, although the latter’s operating loss narrowed. 

The property assets segment’s revenue rose 3.4 per cent to S$40.6 million. This was driven by higher rental income from SingPost Centre, where the overall occupancy rate stood at 99.2 per cent. Operating profit was S$23.9 million, a slight decrease from S$24.7 million, eroded by higher operating costs such as property management services and property tax.

The logistics and letters segment, meanwhile, swung to an operating loss of S$4.4 million, from an operating profit of S$13.7 million in the prior year. 

The logistics business, particularly in cross-border e-commerce delivery, was facing a “challenging operating environment”.

The group’s core logistics and letters segment reflected this decline, posting revenue of S$153.5 million, down 33.1 per cent year on year from S$229.4 million previously.

The segment swung to an operating loss of S$4.4 million, from an operating profit of S$13.7 million in the prior year. SingPost attributed this to a 63 per cent year-on-year decline in cross-border e-commerce delivery volumes, coupled with lower domestic e-commerce volume and the structural decline in letter mail.

Revenue from its post office network fell 13.9 per cent to S$5.7 million, though its operating loss narrowed slightly to S$5.8 million, due to the cessation of several post office operations.

The results come as SingPost undertakes a significant streamlining of its portfolio.

Chong pointed out that current results reflect the full impact of the streamlining of SingPost’s business. When asked if shareholders could expect this level of earnings in future, he replied: “I think probably we shouldn’t use those numbers to forecast what the future might be because there are other things… what you call skewers in the fire…”

Asked if its cash cow, the SingPost Centre, will still be divested given it was initially flagged as a non-core asset but has been its top earner, Chong said this is part of the strategic review the group is still undertaking.

In a separate filing on Monday, the group detailed its recent divestments, including the sale of its entire freight-forwarding business, Famous Holdings and Rotterdam Harbour Holding, for an aggregate cash consideration of about S$177.9 million.

The sale of Famous Holdings to DP World Logistics was completed on Jul 22, 2025, while the Rotterdam Harbour Holding disposal was completed on Jul 23, 2025.

SingPost also completed the unwinding of its cross-holding with Alibaba Investment on Jul 24, 2025, which resulted in its unit Quantium Solutions International becoming a wholly owned subsidiary.

Other disposals during the period included its 33 per cent stake in Morning Express & Logistics for HK$7.5 million (S$1.3 million), and the divestment of several other Quantium Solutions subsidiaries in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Thailand.

These disposals contributed to a decline in the group’s total assets, which stood at S$2.1 billion as at Sep 30, down from S$2.4 billion as at Mar 31 this year.

SingPost shares fell as much as 3.6 per cent after the release of the financial performance, but they were trading 2.4 per cent lower at S$0.41 as at 1.40 pm.