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Singapore operator sees net profit decline, but describes core earnings as ‘robust’.
Singtel on Friday reported a 1.7% decline in net profit in the third quarter of its financial year, a decline it attributed to various factors, including currency effects and its acquisition of U.S. cyber security firm Trustwave.
The Singaporean operator’s bottom line came in at S$954 million (€607 million) in the three months to 31 December, down from S$970 million in the year-earlier quarter.
EBITDA for the quarter fell by 0.7% to S$1.22 billion and turnover grew by 1.1% to S$4.47 billion although at constant currency rates the two figures grew by 4.5% and 6.2% respectively.
Singtel described its core earnings for the quarter as "robust", driven by growth in mobile data and ICT services, and improvements at its digital marketing business.
"However, network and spectrum investments plus costs of building core enterprise and digital capabilities, combined with currency exposure, diluted the group’s results," it said.
Net profit would have risen by 3% had it not been for a one-off tax credit in the year-ago quarter and the impact of the Trustwave acquisition, it said. In constant currency terms, net profit increased by 1% and would have grown by 6% if adjusted for the tax credit and for Trustwave.
"Innovations and investments in our core consumer and enterprise businesses continued to deliver," said Singtel CEO Chua Sock Koong.
She explained that the telco’s mobile and entertainment offerings are based on flexible data plans and differentiated content.
"This has seen more mobile customers in Singapore and Australia trade up to higher-tier plans," she said.
