SingTel has reported a 2% slide in profit for the December quarter to S$954 million ($682.5 million) as a result of forex fluctuations and exceptional items.
In constant currency terms, profit grew 1%, and would have increased 6% if adjusted for a tax credit in the comparable period the year before as well as costs associated from the acquisition of Trustwave in September 2015.
Operating revenue grew 1.1%, or 6.2% in constant currency terms, to S$4.47 billion. Group consumer revenue from Singapore fell 4% due to declines in roaming and IDD services and softer handset sales.
The company's wholly-owned Australian subsidiary Optus meanwhile reported a 6% increase in consumer revenue on growth in mobile and fixed income as well as strong handset sales.
Pre-tax earnings from SingTel's regional mobile associates stayed largely flat at S$647 million.
For the nine months ending in December last year, group revenue dipped 0.1% to S$12.87 billion, but would have risen 6.5% in constant currency terms. Net profit meanwhile grew 2.9%, or 6.1% in constant currencies, to S$2.92 billion.
“Innovations and investments in our core consumer and enterprise businesses continued to deliver,” SingTel group CEO Chua Sock Koong commented.
“We focused on giving customers the best mobile data and entertainment experience by offering a mix of flexible data plans and differentiated content. This has seen more mobile customers in Singapore and Australia trade up to higher-tier plans.”