StarHub posts 50.9% drop in second-half profit amid price competition, shares fall 5%

SINGAPORE - StarHub on Feb 12 reported a 50.9 per cent fall in second-half earnings to $38.5 million from $78.4 million in the same period the previous year as the telco continued to feel the pressure from local rivals.

This brought net profit for financial year 2025 to $86.4 million, down 46.2 per cent from $160.5 million in 2024.

StarHub said that excluding a one-off forfeiture payment of $14.1 million for the return of a telecommunication spectrum lot, net profit would have been $100.5 million.

StarHub’s second-half revenue declined 3.1 per cent to $1.2 billion, while full-year turnover dipped 0.6 per cent to $2.35 billion.

Shares of StarHub slumped after its results announcement, closing down six cents, or 5 per cent, to $1.14.

The telco declared a final dividend of three cents per share, down from 3.2 cents a year ago. Together with an interim dividend of three cents per share, total dividend for the year comes to six cents.

Chief executive Nikhil Eapen said StarHub’s full-year results “reflect the operating environment”.

“While our regional enterprise business continues to grow, the Singapore consumer telecommunications market has experienced prolonged pricing pressure. This continues to weigh on returns and the pace of investment across the sector.”

For the current financial year, StarHub forecasts that earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation would be 75 per cent to 80 per cent of 2025’s – which stood at $403.6 million, down 12.3 per cent from 2024.

The telco said the lower outlook reflects “sustained competitive intensity in the consumer business and management’s decision to retain commercial flexibility”.

It expects to raise capital expenditure commitment in 2026 to between 13 per cent and 15 per cent of total revenue, up from 6.7 per cent in 2025. “These are disciplined investments aligned to long-term competitiveness and operational resilience,” said StarHub chief financial officer Jacky Lo at a results briefing on Feb 12.

The company also expects to achieve total cost savings of $70 million from 2026 to 2028, raising its target from the previous quarter by $10 million, by optimising its network and simplifying its business.

At the media briefing, Mr Eapen said the market had experienced “significant downdraft”, driven by Singapore’s fourth telco Simba, which introduced some of the lowest-cost plans.

But he was optimistic that the market would improve following consolidation with Simba’s acquisition of M1 – which is still pending the approval of the Singapore authorities – as well as potential growth in the enterprise business.

StarHub in its earnings statement said it “continues to operate in a highly competitive consumer market environment, with sustained competitive pressures expected to persist for some time”, although “early signs of stabilisation are emerging”.

It plans to continue to defend and grow its market share across core consumer segments, while seeking to improve customer experience through differentiated offerings and service excellence.

In addition to its offerings under the main StarHub brand, the company also owns lower-cost mobile virtual network operators Giga and Eight, the latter now also offering broadband services, as well as MyRepublic which it acquired in August 2025.

Tapping the recent card-collecting craze, StarHub launched a trading card space at Suntec City in December 2025, catering to not just collectors but also retailers and distributors.

This diverse suite of differentiated products allows the company to achieve full market coverage while focusing on quality and value leadership, said its chief of consumer business Matt Williams. “Our consumer strategy is very clear. We are executing very tightly against it and we have seen very good green shoots of growth as a result.”

StarHub said that its performance for 2025 was supported by stable performance from its regional enterprise business, which grew 2.9 per cent to $614.6 million. Revenue from cybersecurity services also increased 4.3 per cent to $408.9 million.

But its consumer business segments posted further declines. The mobile business recorded $532.5 million in revenue, a 7.7 per cent drop, while turnover for its broadband and entertainment businesses also contracted, by 0.5 per cent and 7.1 per cent respectively.

The telco said its enterprise business, which comprises cybersecurity and digital infrastructure, will be a key focus of the company in the near term. It has a strong order book and aims to be aggressive in the Malaysia market, where it is already working on projects related to the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System, the company added.

StarHub will also be looking to complete a number of mergers and acquisitions to help the company scale up more quickly in the next two years, transforming its business from “passive telco-based revenue to active platform-based revenue”.