Singtel swings back into the black in first half
It posts $466.1m profit on lower exceptional losses amid a tough operating environment
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Singtel's operating revenue for the half year was down 10.2 per cent to $7.42 billion from $8.26 billion a year ago.
ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG
DeeperDive is a beta AI feature. Refer to full articles for the facts.
Singtel posted yesterday a net profit of $466.1 million for the six months ended Sept 30, reversing from a net loss of $127 million a year ago.
This was mainly due to lower exceptional losses compared with a year ago, when Singtel took on a $1.93 billion pre-tax share of Bharti Airtel's $5.49 billion exceptional provision.
Earnings per share stood at 2.86 cents for the quarter, from a loss per share of 0.78 cent the year before.
Operating revenue for the half year was down 10.2 per cent to $7.42 billion from $8.26 billion a year ago.
This was due to a drop in equipment sales, roaming and prepaid mobile revenue.
Singtel group chief executive officer Chua Sock Koong said that the impact of Covid-19 was felt across the group, with significant reductions in roaming and prepaid revenues and lower spending by customers.
The weak performance was compounded by the structural challenges of the fixed-line business in Australia, with the low margin national broadband network resale.
However, there was a bright spot: the information and communications technology segment, with strong growth from NCS and Singtel's cloud and cyber-security services in the Asia-Pacific region as more enterprises adopted and accelerated digitalisation, Ms Chua said.
"While the challenging operating environment is expected to continue as uncertainties from the pandemic persist, we are seeing encouraging signs of modest recovery across our businesses with sequential quarter revenue growth of 10 per cent in the second quarter, as lockdown measures ease and customer spending returns," she added.
Meanwhile, pre-tax contributions from regional associates rose 11 per cent for the six months ended Sept 30, as improved performance from Airtel offset the impact of Covid-19 and price pressures in other associates' markets, Singtel said.
Its directors on Wednesday approved an interim dividend of 5.1 cents per share for the financial year ending March 31, down from 6.8 cents a year ago.
The interim dividend will be paid on Jan 15, after books closure on Nov 30.
Singtel's board also approved the adoption of a scrip dividend scheme and the application of the scheme to the interim dividend.
On its outlook, Singtel said it will not provide guidance, except that dividends from regional associates will be about $1.3 billion and the group's capital expenditure, including for 5G networks, will be around $2.2 billion, comprising A$1.5 billion (S$1.47 billion) for Optus and $700 million for the rest of the group.
THE BUSINESS TIMES
