Taxi operator ComfortDelGro on Friday reported an 8.2 percent fall in third-quarter profit, hurt by increased competition from rivals.
Net profit attributable to shareholders declined to S$80.1 million in the three months ended September 30 compared to S$87.3 million in the corresponding period last year.
Revenue fell 2.3 percent to S$991.4 million due to the strong competition, the company said in a regulatory filing.
Operating costs fell about 1 percent to S$879.9 million due to tight cost controls.
The ride-hailing business is booming in Singapore, with private-hire services such as Uber and Grab making up half the market for point-to-point transport options.
While ComfortDelGro is trying to grab a share of the booming market, competition from bigger rivals continue to pose challenges. Earlier this year, ComfortDelGro signed a potential strategic alliance with the Uber, which included the company's taxis also being made available on Uber's app, among other things.
"The operating environment has been difficult. Although the public transport services business continued to grow, the taxi business has seen strong competition," ComfortDelGro Chief Executive Yang Ban Seng said.
For the past quarter, revenue for its Public Transport Services business registered a 4.5 percent growth to S$601.5 million.
But its taxi services revenue fell 11.2 percent to S$298.3 million due to increased competition.
Its revenues for the Inspection and Testing Services business dipped by 2.2 percent to S$26.3 million due to lower business volumes.
Revenue from the taxi business is expected to be lower as the operating environment continues to be challenging with the substantial increase in private hire vehicles, the company said in a statement.
Shares in ComfortDelGro ended down 0.5 percent at S$2 on the Singapore Exchange on Friday.
