MOBILE, Alabama -- Despite a challenging economic environment, Singapore Technologies Aerospace on Tuesday reported a 3 percent earnings increase in its second quarter.

The aircraft maintenance company in Mobile said earnings before interest and tax were 65.2 million Singapore dollars ($52.2 million), up 3 percent from 63 million in 2011.

Also on Tuesday, Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd., the parent company of Mobile's ST Aerospace and Pascagoula's VT Halter Marine, reported a 9.7 percent rise in second quarter profit.

The defense contractor reported a net profit of 143.1 million Singapore dollars ($114.9 million) compared with 130.5 million Singapore dollars a year earlier. The company said its gains were due to higher contributions from its electronics, marine and land systems business.

Revenue for ST Aerospace for the quarter fell 2 percent to 494 million Singapore dollars from 504 million in the same quarter last year, while revenue for ST Engineering rose 5.8 percent to 1.57 billion Singapore dollars ($1.25 billion).

For the first half of the year, ST Engineering had a net profit of 277.5 million Singapore dollars ($222 million), a 14.8 percent increase compared to the same period in 2011.

The company also said barring unforeseen circumstances, it expects to have higher revenue and profit before tax this year compared with 2011.

ST Aerospace Mobile employs about 1,500 at Brookley Aeroplex, where it maintains and overhauls large airplanes. VT Halter Marine, which employs 1,800 at shipyards in Pascagoula, Moss Point and Escatawpa, is an arm of ST Engineering's marine branch, ST Marine.

Earlier this month, Vision Technologies Aerospace Inc., the aerospace arm of ST Engineering, halted its $49.7 million acquisition of Pemco's Tampa aerospace maintenance facility after some closing conditions could not be fulfilled by the seller before the closing deadline.

ST Engineering announced in June that VT Aerospace made a bid for the maintenance facility and Pemco's Boeing 737 freighter conversion Supplemental Type Certificates at a bankruptcy auction.

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ST Aerospace posts higher profit but lower revenue for 2Q