Singapore's Keppel profit rises on strong infra, connectivity performance

(Reuters) -Singapore's Keppel said on Thursday its first-quarter net profit excluding the effects of legacy offshore and marine assets was higher, boosted by strong performance in the global asset manager's infrastructure and connectivity segments.

Including its legacy offshore and marine assets such as profit and loss effects from Seatrium shares, among others, Keppel's profit during the quarter fell, the company said in a statement.

Keppel has been actively de-risking its investments through divestments of non-core assets such as Keppel Offshore & Marine. It sold the business last year for $4.5 billion to Seatrium. Sembcorp Marine and Keppel Offshore and Marine merged in 2023 to form Seatrium.

Net profit from both infrastructure and connectivity segments improved year-on-year, Keppel said, without disclosing any profit value.

It added that increased revenue from both infrastructure and connectivity segments offset the weak performance from its real estate segment.

The company's real estate division, which operates in key markets including China, has lately been hit by slower home sales and lower contributions from its Chinese trading projects, as well as lower fair value gains from investment properties.

Keppel recorded revenue of S$1.5 billion ($1.10 billion) for the quarter ended March 31, down from S$1.6 billion a year earlier.

The company clocked S$88 million in asset management fees for the reported period, a 52% growth over last year.

($1 = 1.3614 Singapore dollars)

(Reporting Poonam Behura and Rajasik Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)