Singtel Q3 profit slides 1.7%, forex hurts

[SINGAPORE] Singapore Telecommunications Ltd reported a 1.7 per cent fall in third-quarter net profit, nearly in line with estimates, as adverse currency movements and investments offset growing mobile data usage by its customers.

Singtel, Southeast Asia's biggest telecommunications operator, posted a net profit of S$954 million for the three months ended December, compared with S$970 million a year ago. Underlying net profit, excluding one-off items, was S$955 million.

The average forecast of three analysts polled by Reuters was for a net profit of S$957 million.

Revenue rose 1.1 per cent to S$4.47 billion.

REUTERS