Keppel’s net profit jumps 25% in Q1

Recurring income made up 80% of last quarter’s earnings.

Keppel Ltd. has reported a 25% increase in its net income for the first quarter (Q1) of 2025, thanks to strong performance of its infrastructure and real estate units, as well as its asset management.

In a statement, Keppel said its recurring income, comprising profits from asset management and operations, accounted for more than 80% of its Q1 net profit, excluding the legacy offshore & marine assets.

Under its infrastructure segment, Keppel said the 600 megawatt hydrogen-ready Keppel Sakra Cogen Plant reached commissioning readiness in Q1, and is on track to start operations in the first half of 2026. The company also seeded a 39% stake in the 1.3 gigawatt Keppel Merlimau Cogen Plant to the Keppel Core Infrastructure Fund.

About 66% of Keppel’s contracted power generation capacity was locked in for three years and above as at end-March 2025.

The Real Estate Segment, meanwhile, completed the construction and attained the Temporary Occupation Permit for Keppel South Central. A financial services group was  secured as the building’s first anchor tenant.

In terms of asset management fees, Keppel generated $96m, up 9% from last year. On the back of stronger fundraising momentum, the company raised about $1.6b in equity in the year to date, about 3.5x higher than last year.

The company has announced the monetisation of about $347m in assets in the year to date, which are mostly from the divestments of real estate assets in China and Vietnam. This brings its cumulative asset monetisation since October 2020 to about $7.2b.

Keppel expects to complete another $550m in real estate monetisation opportunities in the next few months. 

“With the termination of the segregated account agreement related to contingent liabilities from the KOM and former Sembcorp Marine combination, about $291m in cash and 63.36 million Seatrium shares from the account have been released to Keppel,” the statement read.  

Keppel said it is assessing its options to extract value from the remaining Seatrium shares.