THE trustee-manager of fibre network infrastructure provider NetLink NBN Trust : CJLU 0% on Thursday (May 16) announced a distribution per unit (DPU) of S$0.0265 for the second half of its fiscal year ended March, up 1.1 per cent from the S$0.0262 DPU in the year-ago period.
The distribution for H2, which will be paid out to unitholders on Jun 12, brings DPU for the full year to S$0.053 for FY2024 – a 1.1 per cent increase from FY2023 DPU of S$0.0524.
H2 revenue rose 1 per cent to S$206 million from S$203.9 million. This mainly came from higher revenue from residential, non-residential, non-building address points (NBAP) and segment connections, as well as installation-related and other revenue.
This was, however, partially offset by lower ancillary project revenue.
During its second half, NetLink’s ancillary project revenue fell by S$2.3 million to S$11.6 million, as the availability of project opportunities fluctuated from year to year. NBAP and segment connections revenue rose by S$0.9 million from higher demand for point-to-point connections to support the mobile network roll-out.
Residential and non-residential connections revenue increased by S$1.6 million and S$0.7 million, respectively, due to a higher number of connections, said NetLink.
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NetLink noted that there were 1.51 million residential connections as at end-March this year, up from 1.49 million as at the same period last year. For the non-residential segment, there was a slight increase from 52,120 connections in H2 FY2023 to 53,482 connections in this second half.
NetLink reported earnings of S$50.3 million for H2, down 8 per cent from S$54.7 million in the corresponding year-ago period.
As a result, NetLink’s full-year earnings were down 5.5 per cent to S$103.2 million.
The decline was mainly due to a combination of lower Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) and higher net finance costs, depreciation and amortisation, offset by greater income tax credit.
Expenses for H2 rose 6.9 per cent to S$162.6 million from S$152 million due to higher staff costs, finance costs, other operating expenses and IT maintenance costs. These increases were partially offset by a S$6.1 million fall in operations and maintenance costs.
NetLink said the global political and economic outlook remains uncertain. The company will continue to monitor the evolving macro environment and take the appropriate mitigating measures.
NetLink said its business model is “resilient and well-supported by predictable revenue streams”. “The group’s balance sheet and liquidity remain strong, underpinned by stable cashflows and access to financial resources to support the ongoing and future capital expenditure,” it added.
NetLink closed flat at S$0.865 on Thursday before the results were announced.
