Singtel's billion-dollar impairment the right call after longtime earnings drag: Analysts

SINGTEL is set to take S$1.21 billion in net exceptional losses for the financial year - but stock watchers looked beyond the eye-popping headline figure disclosed on Friday, to focus on the potential for a turnaround.

The latest impairments on struggling digital business units are "the bitter pill for a better tomorrow", Citi analysts Arthur Pineda and Hussaini Saifee said in a research note.

Similarly, Singtel chief financial officer Arthur Lang called taking impairments "the conservative thing to do" and stressed that these costs are unrelated to a fresh strategic review of these business units.