StarHub H2 net profit up 7.5% at S$78.4 million
Broadband and enterprise segments perform well; enterprise is the telco’s main growth driver
STARHUB on Friday (Feb 21) posted a net profit of S$78.4 million for the second half of its financial year ended December, up 7.5 per cent from S$72.9 million in the previous corresponding period.
This translates to an earnings per share of S$0.043 for the recorded period, up from S$0.04 in H2 2023.
The telco’s revenue over the same period fell 0.3 per cent on the year to S$1.3 billion, mainly due to lower contributions from its mobile, entertainment and sales of equipment business segments. The lower contributions were, however, partially mitigated by higher growth from its broadband and enterprise business.
Excluding cryptographic technology company D’Crypt, which the telco sold to ST Engineering last year, StarHub’s H2 service revenue and total revenue were S$1.1 billion and S$1.3 billion, respectively.
Although profit from operations fell 4.5 per cent on the year to S$114 million, the decline was mitigated by higher operating profit from StarHub’s cybersecurity services and regional ICT services segments.
Operating profit from the cybersecurity services rose 40.9 per cent year on year to S$14.6 million, mainly due to higher revenue and higher other income, offset by an increase in operating expenses. Meanwhile, regional ICT’s operating profit was up 45.2 per cent on the year to S$6.3 million.
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Net profit was also boosted by the absence of an impairment loss of S$16.6 million in the previous period relating to D’Crypt.
By segment
Mobile service revenue fell 6.2 per cent on the year to S$287.3 million, mainly due to lower postpaid and prepaid mobile contributions.
Entertainment service revenue fell 9.7 per cent on the year to S$103.1 million, led by a fall in subscribers, as well as lower commercial television and advertising revenue.
Enterprise business revenue was up 10.7 per cent on the year at S$563.7 million, led by higher contributions from data and Internet, managed services and cybersecurity services, as well as regional ICT services.
StarHub chief executive Nikhil Eapen said: “Enterprise continues to be our key growth driver, reporting exceptional growth this year as we scale modern digital infrastructure for smart city use cases in Singapore and Asean.”
He added: “We reiterate our commitment to create long-term total shareholder return through growth, dividends and share buybacks.”
The group declared a final dividend of S$0.032 per share, down from S$0.042 per share issued in the year-ago period. The dividend will be paid on May 16.
Combined with the interim dividend of S$0.03 per share, the total dividend to be distributed for the full year ended Dec 31, 2024, amounts to S$0.062.
While the total issuance exceeds StarHub’s FY2024 dividend guidance of S$0.06 per share, it is lower than the S$0.067-per-share dividend proposed in FY2023.
For the full year, StarHub posted a 7.3 per cent increase in net profit to S$160.5 million; revenue dipped 0.2 per cent on the year to S$2.4 billion.
The telco said it will continue to “defend and grow market share” across core consumer segments, while implementing cost optimisation strategies to improve margins across all segments.
It expects the enterprise managed services and regional ICT services segments to continue delivering growth. It also plans to “aggressively scale” its enterprise business segment, while exploring accretive mergers and acquisitions deals to scale further in the Asean region.
Shares of StarHub ended 1.6 per cent or S$0.02 lower at S$1.24 on Friday.
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