The MTR Corporation on Thursday reported an almost 12 percent drop in first-half profit compared with the same period last year, due largely to a plunge in earnings from its property development projects.

The railway firm posted a net profit of HK$4.17 billion for the six months ending June.

It said profit from property development dived more than 90 percent to HK$732 million, after recording strong earnings from three projects in the same period a year ago.

The MTR also said it saw improvement in its Hong Kong railway business, narrowing losses to HK$774 million from nearly HK$2.8 billion in 2022 as patronage reached more than 90 percent of pre-pandemic levels.

The corporation's CEO, Jacob Kam, said the overall trend is positive.

"The cross-boundary and airport railway's patronage is now at 60 percent to 70 percent of the pre-pandemic level. The recent average of high-speed rail has even exceeded the pre-pandemic level. We are seeing a good trend," he said.

"However, patronage depends very much on the economic situation both in Hong Kong and elsewhere, as well as the travelling behaviour and needs of our customers. So, we remain optimistic. However, we have to wait until the end of the year to know the actual patronage."

On plans to reduce operating hours to give workers more time to carry out maintenance work, Kam said no specific proposal is in place yet.

"With the ongoing or increasing capital investment as a replacement, as well as the new lines' construction, there will be more and more demand for non-traffic hours," he said.

“However, in the extreme cases where we have to reduce traffic hours, we will try to do it with minimal inconvenience to our customers. Currently, we don't have any specific plan for reducing traffic hours, but when the need arises, we will communicate with the public as soon as possible."

The MTR is proposing an interim dividend of $0.42 per share, the same as last year.