StarHub was able to raise its net profit by 3 per cent to $82.5 million in the first quarter ended March 31. -- PHOTO: COURTESY OF STARHUB
STARHUB, Singapore's No. 2 telecommunications company, managed to lift its first-quarter profit by 3 per cent to $82.5 million, despite cutbacks by mobile and broadband users.
The rise was aided by lower corporate taxes and an uptick in the company's highly profitable corporate Internet business.
Revenue was down 0.8 per cent at $530.6 million.
The downturn, according to chief executive Terry Clontz, has resulted in 'lower levels of usage in a few services, as some customers cut back'.
Mobile users are 'watching their usage and choosing to use less...domestic minutes and IDD (international direct dialling) services', he said.
Chief operating officer Tan Tong Hai said residential broadband has also taken a hit, as users 'downtrade for lower-speed packages and opt for direct discounts rather than premiums'.
Nonetheless, he said, 'the diversity of our product portfolio has helped to stabilise our revenue base'.
StarHub's bottom line also got a boost from lower taxes: It paid $18.9 million, $1.7 million less than what it paid in the same period last year.
Mr Clontz said StarHub's star performer was the highly profitable corporate data and Internet service segment, which chalked up a 13 per cent rise in revenue. He expects this business to do even better once the national broadband network is completed by 2012.
Read the full report in Friday's edition of The Straits Times.
