Singtel Q1 net profit falls 35%, hurt by Airtel losses
08 August, 2019
Singtel on Thursday (Aug 8) reported a 35 per cent drop in its first-quarter net profit, in part due to regional associate Airtel's losses.
"Higher depreciation and amortisation costs in network and spectrum across the group" were also behind the profit drop, said the company.
Singtel, Southeast Asia's largest telecom operator, posted net profit of S$541 million for the three months ended in June, compared with S$832 million a year ago.
Underlying net profit, which excludes exceptional items mainly from Airtel, fell 22 per cent to S$575 million.
Revenue rose 2 per cent to S$4.11 billion due to consumer growth in Australia and the group's digital businesses.
Singtel said it expects group earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the full year to increase by a high single digit.
“The Airtel impact aside, business is stable as we continued to execute to strategy in the first quarter," Ms Chua Sock Koong, Singtel's CEO said in the release.
Singtel owns stakes in a number of regional telecom operators including India's Bharti Airtel, whose earnings have suffered from increased competition in its home market.
Airtel last Thursday reported its first quarterly loss in over a decade, as the company lost more customers and spent more to upgrade its 4G network during the quarter.
In March, Singtel announced that it will buy roughly 37.5 billion rupees (S$730 million) worth of Bharti Airtel stock as part of the Indian telecoms operator's plan to raise S$6.2 billion through shares and bonds.
TAG(s):