SingTel reports lower third-quarter profit

Feb 13, 2012, 11:42 GMT

Singapore - SingTel, Southeast Asia's largest telecom company, Monday reported a fall in fourth-quarter profit despite stronger revenues and expansion of its mobile customer base.

It was the Singaporean company's fourth consecutive quarterly fall in net profit due to competition, higher net finance expense, rising costs and a stronger Singapore dollar, analysts said.

Profit during October-December fell by 10 per cent to 902 million Singapore dollars (720 million US dollars), compared to the same quarter of 2010.

Operating revenue grew 3 per cent on the expansion of its customer base by 13 per cent year-on-year.

SingTel recorded total net profit of 2.7 billion Singapore dollars for the last three quarters of 2011, a decline of 4.7 per cent year-on-year. Revenues expanded by 4.6 per cent to 14.05 billion Singapore dollars over the same period.

Net earnings have been declining for a year due to weaker performances by associates like Bharti Airtel of India, in which SingTel has a 33-per-cent stake.

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