Singtel's net profit ticks up 2% to $963m

Thanks to the strong growth in broadband, mobile data, and ICT.

Telco giant Singtel ended its financial year with a 2% growth in earnings to $963m, bringing full-year net profit to a stable $3.85b.

According to the group, core earnings stayed strong on the back of continued growth in broadband, mobile data and ICT. The group's Telkomsel also performed well, mitigating the lower contributions from Airtel which is facing intense price battle in India.

The group said Telkomsel’s pre-tax profit contribution rose 17% as it continued to deliver robust growth across voice, data and digital services. Despite the better performance in Africa, Airtel’s pretax profit contribution dropped 51% with its earnings adversely impacted by the entry of a new operator in India which offered free voice and data. Notwithstanding the competition, Airtel strengthened its market leadership in India.

Meanwhile, in the enterprise space, Singtel recorded a strong performance for the quarter with growth in cyber security services and new contract wins by NCS. ICT, which includes cloud and cyber security, now comprises 47% of the Enterprise business. Ms Chua added, “With ICT the backbone of the digital economy, the demand for ICT services remains strong. We are strengthening our capabilities in cyber security, data analytics and cloud computing to support businesses and governments in their digital transformation.

Here's more from the group:

Strong mobile data and broadband growth across the consumer businesses in Singapore and Australia mitigated the decline in voice and roaming services. Both Group Consumer revenue and EBITDA rose 7%.

Consumer Australia recorded its highest quarterly mobile handset customer growth in five years with the addition of 78,000 postpaid customers and 64,000 prepaid handset customers. Optus has successfully differentiated itself with exclusive content and network investments. Its 4G mobile coverage now covers 96.1% of the population. Revenue grew 3%, and EBITDA rose 2% on continued growth in mobile and fixed services, offsetting investment in content. Excluding the impact of service credits from device repayment plans, revenue would have been up 7%.

Mass market fixed revenues grew 19% due to an increase in National Broadband Network (NBN) customers and the timing of NBN migration payments. With the increased NBN footprint, Optus strengthened its fixed offerings with the launch of competitive and simplified broadband plans.

Consumer Singapore outperformed the market with growth in mobile data, broadband, TV and equipment sales, and revenue was up 1%. EBITDA rose 5% with ongoing cost management initiatives. Last month, Singtel successfully secured 700 MHz, 900 MHz and 2.5GHz band frequencies at the spectrum auction. This strategic investment will enable Singtel to further extend its network leadership and support the growth of Internet of Things and 5G initiatives in the future.

On the home front, revenue was boosted by increased demand for higher speed fibre broadband plans and the sub-license of content rights for the Premier League 2016/2017 season.