Drop in mobile, pay-TV revenue drags StarHub's Q3 profit down 27.6%

DECLINES in mobile and pay-TV revenue dragged telco StarHub's third-quarter net profit down 27.6 per cent to S$86 million, from S$118.7 million in the corresponding period last year. This came on the back of a 3 per cent drop in total revenue to S$585.3 million, from S$603.1 million in Q3 2015.

Earnings per share for the quarter ended Sept 30, 2016, were five Singapore cents, down from 6.9 Singapore cents in Q3 2015. Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) for the period was down 10.1 per cent to S$179.1 million, from S$199.1 million in Q3 2015. Ebitda as a percentage of service revenue was down 2.9 percentage points to 32.8 per cent, from 35.7 per cent.

Despite a drop in revenue, StarHub kept to its dividend policy and announced an interim dividend of five Singapore cents per share, the same as last year. The company intends to maintain the annual cash dividend of 20 Singapore cents per ordinary share for fiscal 2016.

For the nine-month period ended Sept 30, StarHub saw a 1.4 per cent drop in net profit to S$287.4 million, from S$291.5 million in the year-ago period. Revenue was down 2.7 per cent to S$1.76 billion, from S$1.81 billion. Ebitda for the period was S$554.4 million, marginally down from S$555.7 million. Ebitda as a percentage of revenue was up marginally at 33.8 per cent, from 33.6 per cent in the year-ago period.

The company said in a statement on Wednesday that based on the current outlook, it expects the 2016 service revenue to be at 2015's level with Ebitda margin at about 32 per cent of service revenue.