KOWLOON Motor Bus saw net profit rise 8.05 per cent to $171.7 million in the six months ending June 30 despite a reduction in passenger numbers.
Earnings per share rose 7.87 per cent to 42.5 cents and the declared dividend was up one cent to 18 cents.
Chairman P.C. Woo said: ''The company will continue to expand its services to cope with the gradual population shift from urban areas to major new towns, particularly Ma On Shan, Tseung Kwan O and Tin Shui Wai.'' The number of passengers was 477 million, 1.2 per cent lower than in the previous period.
''This reduction was mainly due to the effect of the fare increase [up 11.2 per cent] and bad weather in June,'' said Mr Woo.
Turnover was up 6.1 per cent to $1.44 billion. Operating profit margin eased slightly from 14.62 per cent to 14.06 per cent.
This compares with an average annual profit margin of about 17 per cent over the past five years.