The Mass Transit Railway recorded a 6.3% rise in revenue for the first half of this year to $4.85 billion. Fare revenue grew 3.5% to $3.25 billion while property development profit fell 59.1% to $1.66 billion.

Announcing the financial results today, MTR Corporation Chief Executive Officer Chow Chung-kong said the rise in fare revenue was mainly attributable to patronage surges of 2.6% for MTR lines and 7.2% for the Airport Express.

Operating profit from railway and related businesses before depreciation grew 6% to $2.8 billion. The $1.66-billion property development profit was mainly from deferred income as well as surplus proceeds from Harbour Green and Tung Chung packages.

Good growth

"The company's financial results for the first half of 2007 remained strong, with good growth in revenue and operating profit before depreciation and property development profit," Mr Chow said.

"However, property development profit was lower in the first half of 2007 compared with the same period in 2006, as we had accounted for property development profit from a number of Tseung Kwan O projects, such as The Grandiose and Metro Town, in the first half of last year, the magnitude of which was not repeated in the first six months of 2007."

The net profit attributable to equity shareholders, excluding investment properties revaluation and related deferred tax, was $2.05 billion. Including investment properties revaluation and related deferred tax, the net profit attributable to equity shareholders was $4.07 billion, down 21.2% on a year earlier.

Reported earnings per share was 73 cents, and the corporation's Board of Directors has declared an interim dividend of 14 cents per share.

Operational details

On the operational front, total patronage on MTR lines reached another record of 429.3 million, up 2.6% on a year earlier, with the average weekday patronage growing 3% to 2.5 million. The corporation's share of the total franchised public transport market rose to 25%, from 24.7%, with the share of cross-harbour traffic rising from 60.4% to 61.2%.

The average fare on MTR lines grew 0.6% to $6.84, due to changes in the promotion programme, longer journey distance travelled by passengers and higher growth in cross-harbour movements. As a result, fare revenue on MTR lines rose 3.1% to $2.94 billion.

Airport Express passenger volume rose 7.2% to 4.8 million, as the number of travellers using the airport continued to rise, coupled with the surge in exhibitions and other events at the AsiaWorld-Expo. Fare revenue on the Airport Express grew 6.8% to $312 million.

Positive outlook

Looking ahead, Mr Chow said: "Barring any external shocks, we continue to hold a cautiously positive view for the economy in Hong Kong. Our rail businesses, as well as most of our non-fare and rail related businesses, will continue to benefit from Hong Kong's economic growth."

He said lawmakers have passed the Rail Merger Bill, by-laws and regulations and an extraordinary general meeting will be held in October to seek independent shareholders' approval.