Singapore: Singapore Telecom stated that its fourth quarter net profit rose by 3.5 per cent from the previous year, boosted by strong performances in the home market and its regional mobile associates. Net profit totalled Sg$898 million ($718 million) in the three months to March, but the earnings were pared back by a strong Singapore dollar, the company said in a statement.
"Earnings growth was driven by robust operating performance from the Singapore consumer business and the regional mobile associates, led by Airtel," it said, referring to SingTel's mobile associate in India. SingTel earnings, however, are reported in the local currency and the strength of the Singapore dollar against the currencies of its regional associates ate into profits.
The Australian dollar, Indonesian rupiah and the Indian rupee weakened between 11 percent and 20 per cent against the Singapore currency during the quarter. SingTel's share of its regional associates' pre-tax earnings climbed 8.5 per cent to Sg$558 million. Fourth quarter revenue was down 7.9 per cent to Sg$4.13 billion "as the business environment remained cautious and pricing competition was keen," the firm said.
For the full year to March, net profit jumped 4.1 per cent to Sg$3.65 billion. Group revenue however dipped 7.3 percent to Sg$16.85 billion. The company said it has a ‘free cash flow’ of Sg$3.4 billion and will allocate Sg$2.0 billion for digital investments until the 2016 financial year as opportunities arise."The mobile Internet is growing, fuelled by increasing smartphone penetration and better networks," said SingTel's group chief executive Chua Sock Koong. SingTel's "combined footprint provides a great platform for our digital services to take off and gain scale," added more.
SingTel owns partial stakes in India's Bharti Airtel, Indonesia's Telkomsel, Thailand's Advanced Info Service, the Philippines' Globe Telecom and Pacific Bangladesh Telecom. It fully owns SingTel Optus in Australia. The SingTel group's mobile customer base totalled 514 million as at end March, up 10 per cent from a year ago.
