Singapore’s M1 has announced an 8.2% increase in net profit to S$42.5 million for the quarter ended 31 March 2011.
Singapore’s smallest carrier said service revenue for the period had benefited from growth in its mobile customer base and a higher contribution from fixed services. Service revenue had increased 1.6% to S$185 million ($148.8 million).
M1 gained 23,000 customers in the quarter – 14,000 postpaid and 9,000 prepaid, for its customer base to stand at 1.934 million on 31 March. Postpaid churn had improved 0.2% to 1.2% year-on-year.
Postpaid customers accounted for 87% of mobile service revenue. The carrier’s market share for both post and prepaid segments remained stagnant at 26.7% and 25.7% respectively as of February 2011, according to figures from the IDA.
Revenue from international call services remained stagnant at S$32 million.
Operating revenue for the quarter was 3.5% higher year-on-year due to higher service revenue and handset sales.
Postpaid monthly ARPU for voice services had decreased to S$56.10 from S$59.70 year-on-year after taking into account handset subsidies.
ARPU from mobile data and SMS services had increased to 34.7% of service revenue up 4.9% year-on-year. Mobile data accounted for 19.9% of service revenue, up from 18.8% in Q4 2010.
CEO Karen Kooi said M1 foresees continued growth in both the mobile data and fixed fiber-to-the-home segments. M1's deputy director for corporate communications and investor relations Ivan Lim told Telecom Asia that revenue from the fiber segment now constitutes a 'relatively small percentage' of overall revenue. According to Lim, M1 currently services a third of Singapore's consumer base for fiber-to-the-home.
M1 secured license rights to a 2 x 5MHz lot of 1800MHz spectrum in March and is planning to rollout an LTE network later this year.