SIA Engineering : S59 0% (SIAEC) reported an 11.5 per cent jump in net profit to S$37.8 million for the six months ended March 2024, from S$33.9 million in the previous year.

Revenue for the second half rose 33.7 per cent to S$580.2 million from S$433.8 million.

This was attributed to the continued recovery in demand for aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services, the mainboard-listed group said in a bourse filing on Friday (May 10).

The group said its associated and joint venture companies likewise benefited from healthy demand, with the share of profits from those companies increasing to 40.1 per cent in H2, and to S$51 million from S$36.4 million in the previous year.

Expenditure rose 28.6 per cent from a year before to S$578 million on higher manpower costs and material usage.

Earnings per share for the six months was 3.37 Singapore cents, up from 3.02 cents.

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The company declared a final dividend of six cents per share, payable on Aug 14, up from 5.5 cents the previous year.

Together with an interim dividend of two cents per share, total dividends for the financial year amount to eight cents per share.

For the full financial year ended March 2024, net profit rose 46.2 per cent to S$97.1 million, while revenue was up 37.5 per cent to S$1.1 billion.

Operating performance improved year on year, with operating profit at S$2.3 million for the full year, reversing from a loss of S$26.3 million the previous year.

The group noted that this was the first year of profit at the operating level since the pandemic, and that excluding government wage support recorded last year, operating performance improved by S$39.8 million.

Revenue increased across all its business units and portfolio of companies as business volume rose on robust demand for aircraft MRO services, as global air travel recovers towards pre-pandemic levels.

The number of flights it handled in March 2024 was 94.4 per cent of pre-pandemic volume, compared to 78.7 per cent in the year before.

SIAEC has also expanded its services agreement with Scoot, the low-cost subsidiary of Singapore Airlines : C6L 0%, to include the airline’s new fleet of Embraer E190-E2 regional jets, which debuted in Singapore on Tuesday.

The contract – which began on Apr 1 – is for a period of 58 months, and will generate an estimated S$52 million in revenue.

Looking ahead, it added that demand for aircraft MRO “looks healthy”, but that a tight labour market, supply chain issues and inflation remain key concerns for its near-term operating margins. Shares of SIAEC ended Friday S$0.03 or 1.3 per cent higher at S$2.29, before the news.