Net profit increases 24% to S$991M, underlying net profit up 18%

February 9, 2010

3 Min Read

SINGAPORE -- Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel) today announced that its net profit for the quarter ended 31 December 2009 rose 24 per cent to S$991 million, with its businesses in Singapore, Australia and regional mobile associates reporting improved performance. The Group’s revenue posted a 20 per cent gain to S$4.45 billion, driven by steady growth from Singapore and Australia and assisted by the stronger Australian dollar.

For the three months ended 31 December 2009, underlying net profit grew 18 per cent to S$990 million. Revenue from Singapore increased 1.5 per cent to S$1.53 billion and Australia rose 4.8 per cent to A$2.30 billion, driven by continued strong growth in the mobile operations. Cautious corporate telecom spending and demand for business-related services impacted the growth of data and international telephone revenue in Singapore and Australia.

In the quarter, the Australian dollar appreciated 27 per cent against the Singapore dollar.

Pre-tax earnings from the regional mobile associates increased 22 per cent to S$592 million, driven by significant improvement in Telkomsel’s performance and fair value gains on associates’ foreign currency liabilities.

Ms Chua Sock Koong, SingTel Group Chief Executive Officer, said: “Across Singapore, Australia and the associates, we are focused on execution and delivering to exceed customer expectations.”

She added: “The Singapore and Australia businesses stood out for their exceptional performance in mobile under highly competitive market conditions. In India, despite the intensive price competition, we are confident that our joint venture Bharti Airtel, as the market leader and one of the most visible and trusted brands in India, will be able to leverage its scale advantage and emerge as the long term winner.”

Free cash flow for the nine months ended 31 December 2009 was S$2.25 billion, comparable to a year ago. Singapore and Australia both recorded higher free cash flows but dividends from the associates fell as a result of Telkomsel’s weaker 2008 financial performance and timing differences in the receipt of dividends.

Singapore

Revenue from the Singapore business grew 1.5 per cent to S$1.53 billion as strong growth in mobile and higher handset sales offset a decline in International Telephone revenue. Excluding SCS revenue for the month of September 2008 which was included in the quarter last year, underlying revenue growth was 4.2 per cent.

Operational EBITDA increased 3.4 per cent to S$580 million and margin grew 0.7 percentage point to 37.9 per cent. The higher IT and Engineering margin was offset by lower Singapore Telco margin as a result of higher mio TV content cost and increased mobile selling costs.

Mr Allen Lew, CEO Singapore, said: “I am particularly pleased that in mobile, we not only continued to get the largest share of net additions but also grew our revenue per customer on the back of customers upgrading to higher value data plans. With these plans, customers are better able to enjoy our award winning content services like AMPed. In IT & Engineering, we saw a strong growth in margins from the previous quarter as SingTel focused on ensuring the cost effectiveness of its operations.”

Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. (SingTel) (OTC: SGTJY)

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