Singapore Technologies Engineering, Asia’s biggest aircraft maintenance company, said second-quarter profit rose 14%, bolstered by higher revenue from its aerospace and land systems units.

Net income increased to $124 million, or 4.11 cents per share, in the three months ended in June, compared with $108.7 million, or 3.62 cents, a year earlier, the company said in a statement to the city’s stock exchange. Revenue climbed 8% to $1.52 billion.

 

The rebound in air travel following the worst travel slump since World War II last year is benefiting aircraft maintenance and repair companies such as ST Engineering and Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Co. ST Engineering expects its revenue and profit before tax to be higher this year compared with 2009, it said in the statement.

 

Profit before tax at ST Aerospace, the company’s biggest business by revenue, increased 5% to $63.9 million in the quarter. Pretax profit at the land-systems unit, which makes military vehicles and machine guns, almost doubled to $34 million. At ST Marine, profit before tax climbed 11% to $27.1 million in the quarter.

 

ST Engineering said its order book reached $11.3 billion as at the end of June. The company will pay an interim dividend of 3 cents a share.

 

The stock was unchanged at $3.26 at the close of trading in Singapore. The results were released after the market closed. Of the 16 analysts tracked by Bloomberg in the past year, nine have “buy” ratings, three have “sell,” while the remainder recommend investors “hold” the stock.

 

Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering today said demand in the city “has strengthened.” The company expects its Hong Kong operations to remain “firm” in the second half of the year as long as the aviation market continues to recover, it said in a statement.