StarHub's net profit sinks 33.2% to $54m in Q4

Blame it on lower profit from operations.

Singapore telco giant StarHub Ltd reported lower bottom line in the past quarter ending in December, down 33.2% to $54m.

This is despite reporting a stable revenue at $634.8m, but full year profit was lower 2% to $2.4b. This decrease for the year was attributed to the lower revenue from the sale of equipment and services.

For the said quarter, the group's EBITDA was lower by 14% YoY at $135.7m, the result of lower profits from operations. This led to a 3% decrease for the full year at $690.1m.

StarHub's mobile revenue decreased slightly for the quarter and 2% for the full year to $311.8m and S1.2b, respectively. Post-paid ARPU decreased by $2 to $70 for the quarter. Pre-paid ARPU, on the other hand, was lower by $2 for the quarter to $15.

Its Pay TV revenue was also battered in the past quarter, down to $93.9m due to the reduced customer base to 498,000 households. Pay TV ARPUs were at $51.

Meanwhile, broadband revenue increased 4% to $54.2m for the quarter. This was driven by the higher mix of customers on fibre and take-up of higher speed cable plans.

Enterprise Fixed revenue also increased 10% as data & internet services revenue clocked in with an increase to $347.2m. This was due to the higher take-up of data & managed services.

StarHub CEO Tan Tong Hai said, “Despite increased competition, we have registered growth in key areas. Mobile, which accounts for half of our total revenue, showed resiliency as we saw an increase in subscriber base and data revenue. Momentum for our Broadband revenue was maintained and we also witnessed a consistent revenue growth in our Enterprise Fixed business.”