Singtel posts 5.6% drop in fiscal Q1

SINGTEL reported a 5.6 per cent drop in net profit, including exceptional losses, to S$891.6 million for the first quarter ended June 30 on the back of lower share of results of associates and joint ventures.

Excluding Airtel, net profit rose by 3.4 per cent.

Strong performances by its core and digital businesses underpinned revenue and Ebitda growth, Singtel said.

Operating revenue grew 8.3 per cent (6.3 per cent in constant currency terms) to S$4.23 billion, bolstered by first time contribution from Turn, Inc (consolidated from April 1, 2017), higher equipment sales, Data and Internet and ICT services.

Turn was acquired by Singtel's wholly owned subsidiary Amobee Inc in April for S$401 million.

The associates' underlying profit contributions dipped 2.5 per cent to S$515 million due to lower profits at Airtel, AIS and Globe partially offset by strong profits at Telkomsel and contribution from Intouch (acquired in November 2016).

Singtel CEO Chua Sock Koong said: "We've had a good start to the year with a more challenging business environment. This speaks to the resilience of our core consumer business and the investments we've made in the digital space in our efforts to grow new businesses. We are encouraged by their performance as they scale up to capture the opportunities in the new economy."