StarHub's Q2 profit down 21% at S$85.7m

FOR the second quarter ending June 30, Singapore's second-biggest telco, StarHub, announced a 21 per cent decrease in net profit to S$85.7 million from S$108.6 million one year ago. This came on the back of a marginal decrease in revenue for the quarter to S$579.1 million from S$585.7 million.

Earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter was five Singapore cents, down from 6.3 Singapore cents, one year ago. The company declared an interim dividend of four Singapore cents per share, down from five Singapore cents a share that it paid in the year-ago quarter.

For the half year, StarHub's net profit was down 21.2 per cent to S$158.8 million from S$201.4 million one year ago. This came on the back of flat revenue of S$1.17 billion compared to S$1.18 billion one year ago. Half-year EPS was 9.2 Singapore cents compared to 11.6 Singapore cents in the year-ago period.

During the quarter, the company's service revenue was S$542.6 million, down 2 per cent from S$553.7 million chalked up one year ago. For the half year, service revenue was S$1.08 billion, down 1.5 per cent from S$1.09 billion one year ago.

For the second quarter, the telco's Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) was down 6.1 per cent to S$180.3 million compared to S$192 million one year ago. The company's Ebitda as a percentage of service revenue was 33.2 per cent for the quarter, down from 34.7 per cent one year ago. Half-year Ebitda was down 9.2 per cent to S$341 million from S$375.3 million one year ago. Ebitda as a percentage of service revenue was 31.6 per cent, down from 34.2 per cent one year ago.