SINGAPORE -- Singapore Post announced Thursday a net profit of 35.8 million Singapore dollars ($26.7 million) for the quarter ended in June, 23% lower than a year earlier. Heavy investment in its e-commerce business pressured the bottom line as the postal company shifts gears from an acquisition spree to integrating new e-commerce subsidiaries in the U.S.
While revenue in the e-commerce segment grew more than eightfold following the acquisitions, marketing and sales expenses for the newly acquired companies in the U.S. pressured SingPost's bottom line. Mervyn Lim, Covering Group CEO, said in a teleconference on Thursday that while the two U.S. entities -- TradeGlobal and Jagged Peak -- made a "small contribution to the bottom line" on a combined basis, investments to boost marketing and technical capabilities resulted in an operating loss of S$3.5 million for the segment.
