SingTel has reported a 17% decline in net profit for its fiscal first quarter, due to the impact of exceptional items and unfavorable forex fluctuations.
The operator's net profit fell to S$835 million ($668 million), chiefly as a result of staff restructuring costs and last year's $150 million gain from the dilution of its stake in India's Bharti Airtel.
Excluding these one-off items, underlying net profit fell 2% to S$881 million, and would have grown 5% in constant currency terms.
Revenue fell 3% to S$4.15 billion, but was flat in constant currency. SingTel's domestic consumer home revenue rose 11%, with mobile revenue up 2%. Mobile revenue at Australian subsidiary Optus was flat, but ebitda rose 5% due to lower handset subsidy costs.
Group enterprise revenue stayed at S$1.56 billion, with higher revenue in Singapore offset by lower sales in Australia.
“In Singapore and Australia, tiered data plans are gaining traction with customers and driving mobile data usage,” SingTel group CEO Chua Sock Koong commented.
“At Optus, we saw encouraging sales momentum from the recently launched ‘MyPlan Plus’ with customer take-up of both SIM-only and data share plans. In Singapore, we introduced the world’s first 300 Mbps 4G service and the island’s first voice over LTE service.”
SingTel's share of its part-owned regional associates' pre-tax profit grew 8% to S$594 million, and would have increased 20% in constant currencies. the operator's share of pre-tax earnings from Airtel surged 68%, and Globe's contribution improved 20%.