SingTel ends latest fiscal quarter with 2M LTE subscribers in Singapore
Singapore Telecommunications reported a net profit of SG$1.03 billion ($704 million) for its second fiscal quarter of 2016, which ended Sept. 30, down 0.8% compared to the same quarter the previous fiscal year.
The operator’s total revenue for the period amounted to SG$4.18 billion, a decline of 2.9% year-on-year. The group’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization totaled SG$1.29 billion in fiscal Q2, down 3.3% year-on-year.
“This quarter, we have again strengthened our position across Singapore, Australia and the associates’ markets,” said SingTel CEO Chua Sock Koong. “Mobile data growth continues to be a key focus. Our investments in 3G and 4G network infrastructure and spectrum, alongside increasing smartphone penetration, are delivering improved experiences for customers. While currency weakness has affected our reported numbers, our underlying performance is resilient.”
In Singapore, SingTel’s mobile business generated SG$531 million in revenues during the quarter, up from SG$523 million in the year-ago period.
SingTel ended the period with almost 4.1 million mobile subscribers, including 2.08 million LTE subscribers, an increase of more than 40% versus the year-ago quarter. The telco ended September with 50.2% market share. During the period, SingTel said it further deployed LTE service in the 900 MHz spectrum band to improve in-building coverage in residential areas and underground transit tunnels.
In Australia, where SingTel operates through telecom operator Optus, total revenue from the mobile segment amounted to AU$1.54 billion ($1.09 billion) in fiscal Q2, climbing 13.3% year-on-year.
Optus ended fiscal Q2 with 9.36 million mobile subscribers, including 4.13 million LTE customers having added 310,000 LTE customers during the latest quarter. Optus continued its mobile network investments, reaching close to 90% population coverage with LTE services available on 4,170 sites, of which 2,893 have been upgraded to support 700 megahertz spectrum, as of Oct. 31.
SingTel said for full fiscal year 2016, mobile communications revenue from Singapore is expected to grow at a low-single-digit level, while mobile service revenue from Australia is forecast to grow at a low single-digit level. SingTel has a presence in Asia, Australia and Africa with 557 million total mobile customers in 25 countries, including India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand.
