(eca022): Singapore's SingTel posts slight dip in net profit

Aug 12, 2010, 12:09 GMT

Singapore - South-East Asia's biggest telecommunications company, Singapore Telecommunications Ltd, on Thursday posted a slight dip in net profit for the second quarter due to lower contributions from regional mobile associates.

Net profit for the quarter ending June 30 was 943 million Singapore dollars (692 million US dollars), down 0.2 per cent from 945 million Singapore dollars reported a year earlier, SingTel said in a statement.

Group revenue in the second quarter climbed 11.5 per cent year-on- year to reach 4.29 billion Singapore dollars, it added.

SingTel said earnings from its regional mobile associates declined by 16 per cent year-on-year to 525 million Singapore dollars because of lower operating profits from India's Bharti, Globe in the Philippines and Indonesia's Telkomsel.

'The Singapore and Australia businesses turned in strong performances, especially in mobile with both reporting double-digit revenue growth,' chief executive Chua Sock Koong said.

'However, competition in the emerging markets led to lower earnings from Bharti, Globe and Telkomsel,' she added.

SingTel and its associate companies operate in eight countries in the region - Australia, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

On Wednesday, SingTel said its mobile customer base had increased by 88.5 million, or 34 per cent, year-on-year to reach 351 million subscribers by the end of June.

The number included 36.4 million mobile customers from Bharti's newly acquired mobile operations in Africa, which SingTel considers to be 'an important emerging market,' Chua said.