M1's Q4 profit eases 2.1% to S$43.6m; final dividend down

M1's net profit for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2015, slipped 2.1 per cent to S$43.6 million, or 4.7 Singapore cents per share, amid a slowdown in handset sales, the telco announced on Monday after the market closed.

For the whole of 2015, net profit increased by 1.5 per cent to S$178.5 million, or 19.1 Singapore cents per share.

M1 declared a final cash dividend of 8.3 Singapore cents, down from the 11.9 cent final dividend paid out a year earlier. Including a seven cent interim dividend declared from the half-year results, M1 will pay 15.3 Singapore cents of dividends for 2015.

Shares of M1 closed at S$2.61 on Monday, up by 0.4 per cent or one Singapore cent.

Operating revenue in the fourth quarter fell 11.1 per cent to S$307.9 million as handset sales shrank by 26.9 per cent to S$98.8 million. For the full 2015, however, handset sales grew 36.6 per cent to S$334.9 million.

Mobile service revenue also eased 2.1 per cent to S$168.4 million during the fourth quarter.

M1's share of the mobile market increased to 23.3 per cent in the fourth quarter from 22.9 per cent a year earlier, with 1.2 million postpaid customers and 733,000 prepaid customers. The acquisition cost per postpaid customer also decreased by 9.1 per cent to S$398 in the fourth quarter.

Looking ahead, M1 expects "stable performance" in 2016, with mobile data and fixed services expected to remain the key growth drivers.