Singapore’s second largest operator Starhub posted an 18% slide in profit for 2010 to S$263 million ($205.18 million).
Operating revenue had increased 4% to S$2.24 billion, but results were pulled down by higher capital expenditure on subsidiary Nucleus Connect along with investments in new CRM and billing systems.
Nucleus Connect is the wholesale retailer of fiber optic bandwidth for Singapore’s next-generation broadband network.
Profit was also affected by iPhone subsidies and higher manpower costs.
Starhub’s cable television revenue had decreased 2% to S$91.9 million due to lower subscription costs for its sports channels, with ARPU for this sector decreasing S$4 to S$52.
COO Tan Tong Hai said at a media briefing that content costs for cable television had not deceased substantially despite Starhub having lost the broadcast rights for the Barclays Premier League to rival SingTel.
CEO Neil Montefiore attributed the higher costs to a global trend of rising content prices.
Broadband revenue was down S$4.5 million though Starhub’s residential customer base grew 6%. The lower revenue was attributed to promotional discounts, which lowered ARPU for this segment by S$4 to S$47.