Singtel's Q3 profit rises 2% to S$972.8m

SINGAPORE Telecommunications (Singtel) on Thursday posted a 2 per cent increase in net profit to S$972.8 million for the third quarter ended Dec 31, 2016 - boosted by higher dividends from its cables unit Southern Cross and currency revaluation gains.

This came on the back of a 2 per cent year-on-year fall in revenue from S$4.47 billion to S$4.41 billion, due mainly to mandated cuts to mobile termination rates in Australia.

Singtel said that excluding this rate impact, revenue for the quarter would have grown 3 per cent.

Earnings per share came up at 6.03 Singapore cents, compared with 5.98 Singapore cents in the previous year.

No dividends were proposed for the period.