M1's net profit down 14.6% to $36.3m in 1Q17

Blame the higher depreciation and interest expenses.

Singapore telco giant M1 reported a slump in net profit for the quarter ending in March, down 14.6% to $36.3m.

The decline was driven by higher depreciation and interest expenses.

According to the group, operating revenue increased 1.2% to $260.7m whilst service revenue remained stable at $201.5m, as growth in fixed services revenue offset lower IDD and roaming revenues.

Meanwhile, fixed services revenue continued to post strong growth, increasing 22.8% to $30m and accounting for 14.9% of overall service revenue. The growth was driven by increased residential and corporate signups, and M1 ended the quarter with an 8,000 increase in fibre customers to 168,000.

For the past quarter, M1 also added 24,000 postpaid customers and 3,000 prepaid customers, to bring the total mobile customer base to 2.05 million. Monthly postpaid churn remained stable at 1.0%.

Average postpaid smartphone data usage was 3.7GB per month in the 1Q17, from 3.3GB per month a year ago. This led to mobile data contribution increasing its share to 55.1% of the service revenue.