Singapore Post saw Q1 profits fall 23% year on year. The Far Eastern parcels and logistics giant announced a net profit of S$49.4 million in Q1 of 2015-16.

The fall in profits was put down by Singapore Post as being “due mainly to one-off divestment gains in the previous year”.

Revenue however saw a leap in the other direction – it was up by over 30% to S$333.4 million, and this was “buoyed by continued expansion of cross-border e-commerce-related activities, and the inclusion of contributions from new subsidiaries”.

E-commerce and related revenues from across the Postal, e-Commerce and Logistics segments more than doubled from $73.1 million in 2015 to S164.1 million this financial quarter. These sectors now account for 49.3% of Singapore Post’s group revenue, and this is up 28.7% on last year.

International mail revenues were up 30% to S$65.5 million, though domestic revenue declines 4.2% to S$64 million. This was attributed to lower domestic mail volumes.

Logistics revenue rose 11.9% to S$156.7m, with steady organic growth at Quantium Solutions and CouriersPlease, as well as the inclusion of a new subsidiary under Famous Holdings.

Commenting on the results, Mervyn Lim, Covering Group Chief Executive Officer, said: “We are investing in our business transformation and that will take time to contribute materially to earnings. We are focused on executing our strategy to create value from our acquisitions and build an integrated global eCommerce logistics ecosystem. SingPost’s strategy to protect the postal core and grow its eCommerce logistics network remains on track.”