Singapore Telecom first quarter net profit up

A woman and a child walk out of the Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel) building in Singapore on February 12, 2016. Singtel reported a 1.7 per cent fall in third-quarter net profit of 683 million US dollar for the three months ended December, compared with 694 million US dollar a year ago, as adverse currency movements and investments offset growing mobile data usage by its customers. AFP PHOTO / ROSLAN RAHMAN / AFP PHOTO / ROSLAN RAHMAN — A woman and a child walk out of the Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel) building in Singapore on February 12, 2016. Singtel reported a 1.7 per cent fall in third-quarter net profit of 683 million US dollar for the three months ended December, compared with 694 million US dollar a year ago, as adverse currency movements and investments offset growing mobile data usage by its customers. AFP PHOTO /

SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) — Singapore Telecom (Singtel) on Thursday reported a slight annual increase in its first quarter net profit, boosted by robust mobile data usage and strong contributions from its regional associates.

Net profit growth in the three months to June however was weighed down by the absence of exceptional gains which had boosted earnings in the same period the year before, and a strong local dollar, Singtel said in a filing with the Singapore Exchange.

Southeast Asia’s biggest telecom firm by revenue said net profit totalled Sg$944 million ($702 million) for the quarter, up 0.3 percent from last year.

Group revenue came in at Sg$3.91 billion, down 7.1 percent.

Pre-tax contributions from its regional mobile associates rose 14.3 percent to Sg$714 million on the back of strong performances by Indonesia’s Telkomsel and Airtel of India.

Singtel also holds substantial stakes in mobile operators in Thailand and the Philippines, and has a wholly owned subsidiary in Australia called Optus.

“The recurring theme across all our markets is mobile data,” said Singtel Group chief executive Chua Sock Koong.

“Having invested extensively in 3G and 4G networks and services and with the rise of smartphone adoption, our associates were well-positioned to successfully drive data usage and customer growth.”

Demand for cyber-security services from governments and private businesses also helped drive profit, Chua said.

However, the strong local currency relative to the currencies of the countries where it has operations eroded net profit, which is reported in Singapore dollars, the company added.

The Singapore dollar strengthened between 0.3 percent and 4.4 percent year-on-year against the Australian dollar, Indonesian rupiah, Indian rupee, Thai baht and Philippine peso in the June quarter.

Net profit would have been up 2.0 percent if the exchange rate was constant, Singtel said.