Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. (ST), Southeast Asia's biggest phone company, said fourth-quarter profit fell 2.3 percent on lower contributions from its partner in India.
Net income dropped to S$991.7 million ($803 million), or 6.2 cents a share, in the three months ended March from S$1.02 billion, or 6.4 cents, a year earlier, SingTel said in a statement today. That compares with the S$988 million average of five analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
Shareholders will get a special dividend of 10 Singapore cents a share, in addition to the final payout of 9 cents per unit, as the company returns S$4.1 billion to investors this year. Profit at Bharti Airtel Ltd. (BHARTI), part-owned by SingTel, fell a worse-than-expected 31 percent in the quarter as higher network costs eroded margins as Singapore revenue growth slowed.
"While the Singapore mobile market appears to be slowing, competition remains rational," Christian Guerra, an analyst at Goldman Sachs & Partners Australia Pty, said in a May 10 report.
SingTel shares closed yesterday at S$3.14 and have gained 3 percent this year compared with a 0.4 percent decline in the benchmark Straits Times Index. (FSSTI)
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization in Singapore fell 5 percent S$551 million in the fourth quarter on content costs for its mio internet protocol television service. Revenue in Singapore rose 1 percent in the quarter, compared to the 13 percent pace of the year earlier.
In the 12 months ending March 2012, SingTel expects its Singapore earnings "to be stable."
SingTel's Optus unit, the second-largest phone company in Australia, is winning mobile customers amid service disruptions at third-ranked Vodafone Hutchison Australia. Income at Sydney- based Optus rose 10 percent to A$672 million ($720 million) after adding 151,000 postpaid customers in its mobile phone unit.
SingTel, which owns stakes in operators across more than 10 counties, yesterday said it has 402.5 million mobile phone customers, a 37 percent increase on the year earlier.
To contact the reporter on this story: Robert Fenner in Melbourne at rfenner@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Young-Sam Cho at ycho2@bloomberg.net
By Robert Fenner - May 12, 2011 7:06 AM GMT+0800
Via Bloomberg
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