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Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel) posted a 14 per cent rise in first-half profit on Wednesday (Nov 12), boosted by robust performance from its Australian unit Optus and regional associates.<\/p>\n
Southeast Asia’s largest telecom firm said underlying net profit was S$1.35 billion (US$1.04 billion) for the six months, ending on Sep 30, compared with S$1.19 billion last year.<\/p>\n
That was slightly below Visible Alpha consensus estimate of S$1.37 billion.<\/p>\n
Singtel said the increase was driven mainly by regional associates Airtel and AIS, and operating companies NCS and Optus.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The post-tax contribution from regional associates, including India’s Bharti Airtel, Indonesia’s Telkomsel and Thailand’s AIS, rose 12 per cent to S$0.92 billion.<\/strong><\/p>\n Bharti Airtel reported a 89 per cent jump in quarterly profit, as users upgraded to higher-margin 4G and 5G plans and on steady subscriber additions.<\/strong><\/p>\n Meanwhile, Optus’ operating revenue rose 2 per cent helped by growth in its mobile postpaid plans and higher revenue from a regional network-sharing deal.<\/strong><\/p>\n Singtel Group CEO Yuen Kuan Moon said its first half results “reflect the positive momentum across our diversified portfolio of businesses across the region”.\u00a0<\/p>\n “While the macroeconomic outlook remains challenging, and the Optus business faces uncertainty, our business and geographical diversity is lending stability to the group\u2019s performance,” he said in a press release on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n