StarHub profit grinds lower as services revenue grapple

Net profit fell to S$85.7 million in the three months ended June 30.

StarHub
StarHub website.

Telecoms service provider StarHub on Wednesday reported a 21 percent fall in second-quarter net profit, hurt by lower revenue from voice, roaming services and pay TV.

Net profit at StarHub, the smallest of Singapore's three mobile phone operators such as Singtel and M1, fell to S$85.7 million from S$108.6 million a year earlier.

Revenue dropped 1.1 percent to S$579.1 million in the three months ended June 30. The fall was due to lower mobile, broadband and pay TV service revenue.

Mobile revenue - accounting for half of total revenue - slid about 1 percent to S$302.7 million in the quarter due to lower voice, IDD and roaming usage from both post-paid and pre-paid services, the company said in a statement on Wednesday evening.

Second-quarter pay-TV service revenue dipped 8 percent to S$87.9 million, owing to a lower subscriber base.

Post-paid mobile ARPU of S$70 in the quarter was S$1 lower compared to the corresponding periods last year. ARPU or average revenue per minute is a key indicator for telecom companies' earnings.

"We maintained the Group's 2017 service revenue to be at about 2016's level and Group EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) margin to be between 26 percent to 28 percent of service revenue," the company said in a statement.

Last month, rival M1 reported a near 18 percent fall in the first-half profit and called-off strategic review.

StarHub added 7,000 post-paid mobile customers in the quarter, bringing its base to 1,385,000.

StarHub shares closed 0.4 percent lower at S$2.7 on the Singapore Exchange. The stock has lost nearly 4 percent so far this year.

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