StarHub announces 5% higher profit in Q2

Net profits were S$99.1 million for the three months ended June 30, up 5 per cent from the corresponding period last year. PHOTO: BLOOMBERG

SINGAPORE - Telco StarHub lifted net profit in the second quarter on the back of higher revenue from mobile and fixed network services.

Earnings came in at S$99.1 million for the three months to Jun 30, up 5 per cent from the same period last year.

Revenue rose S$589.5 million, up 2.3 per cent.

Earnings for the six months ended Jun 30 fell 3.2 per cent to S$172.8 million, while revenue increased 5.2 per cent to S$1.207 billion.

Mobile revenue, which contributed 52.7 per cent of turnover, was S$310.8 million, up 0.2 per cent due to higher sales from post-paid mobile.

This was driven by higher subscription revenue from a larger customer base, StarHub said on Wednesday.

The increase in average revenue per unit for post-paid mobile services was driven by new 4G tiered data plans with higher monthly subscription and data usage.

Revenue from fixed network services, which contributed 16.4 per cent of sales, was up 5 per cent from a year earlier to S$96.7 million, mainly due to the higher take-up of data and internet services.

Earnings per share were 5.7 cents, compared with 5.5 cents a year earlier, while net asset value per share was 9.0 cents on June 30 compared with 8.6 cents as at Dec 31.

It declared an interim dividend of five cents a share.

StarHub expects fixed and mobile services to continue to drive revenue growth, adding that mobile data consumption would also increase.

It also said it expects to see increasing adoption of its "improved" suite of managed services and connectivity solutions on its fixed network infrastructure.

Take-up of its HomeHub packages are expected to continue increasing and underpin growth, it said.

StarHub shares closed down four cents at S$3.75 on Wednesday.

jkoh@sph.com.sg

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