Wall Street Journal | February 10, 2011 | Gaurav Raghuvanshi
SINGAPORE—Higher revenue in its core markets of Singapore and Australia led Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. to post a small but better-than-expected increase in its fiscal third-quarter net profit.
SingTel, Southeast Asia’s largest telecommunications company by revenue, said Thursday that net profit for the quarter ended Dec. 31 rose to 998.2 million Singapore dollars (US$783.1 million) from S$990.7 million a year earlier, beating the forecast of S$905 million from a Dow Jones Newswires poll of analysts, even though contributions from its regional associates declined.
“The group held its net profit stable, benefiting from a diversified earnings base. Singapore and Australia continued to perform and deliver strong revenue growth and cash flows despite the level of competition in these markets,” SingTel’s Group Chief Executive Chua Sock Koong said in a statement.
Group debt was S$5.9 billion as of Dec. 31 and free cash flow rose 28% to S$2.86 billion in the April-to-December period. The company said it has the ability to fund acquisitions.
“We are a very disciplined investor. We continue to look at investments. If any investment opportunities that present themselves are value-accretive, we are open to them,” Ms. Chua told a news conference, but she didn’t give details about any planned acquisitions. She also didn’t say if SingTel had any plans to list its Australian business.
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