Singapore Telecom Q4 net profit rises 4.5%

Singapore Telecom (Singtel) said today fourth-quarter net profit rose 4.5 per cent year-on-year, boosted by strong performances in the home market and regional associates as its digital business expands.

Net profit totalled USD 709.4 million) in the three months to March, compared with 898 million Singapore dollars in the same period last year, Southeast Asia's biggest telecom firm by revenue said in a statement. Revenue rose 5.1 percent to 4.34 billion Singapore dollars from 4.13 billion Singapore dollars.

For the full year to March, net profit jumped 3.5 percent to 3.78 billion Singapore dollars while group revenue gained 2.2 per cent to 17.22 billion Singapore dollars. "The group and its associates successfully captured the strong growth in mobile data services, with strategic investments in networks, distribution, customer initiatives and support," Singtel said in the statement.

"To capitalise on the potential of mobile data services in the emerging markets, the regional mobile associates continued to invest in spectrum and build next generation data networks." Shares in the firm were up 0.46 percent at 4.38 Singapore dollars on Singapore's stock exchange Thursday.

The firm said revenue from its consumer business in at home in Singapore as well as from its fully owned Australian subsidiary Optus "rose strongly, driven by higher mobile data uptake and equipment sales". Apart from Optus, Singtel also owns substantial stakes in India's Bharti Airtel, Indonesia's Telkomsel, Thailand's Advanced Info Service, the Philippines' Globe Telecom and Pacific Bangladesh Telecom. In April, Singtel said it was buying almost all of US cybersecurity firm Trustwave for USD 810 million.

Singtel chief executive Chua Sock Koong said in the statement that the acquisition signalled the firm's aspiration "to be a significant global player in cyber security".

"In the digital space, we are sharpening our focus in three key areas -- digital marketing, regional premium video and advanced analytics," she said. Singtel last year allocated 2.0 billion Singapore dollars for digital investments until the 2016 financial year.

In January, it entered into a joint venture with Sony Pictures and Warner Brothers to set up HOOQ, a new video-streaming service for Asia in the mould of Netflix. And in April, it launched its own mobile chat app Wavee.

In June last year, its fully owned digital advertising firm Amobee bought two mobile advertising firms for a total 385 million Singapore dollars.

Singtel bought US-based Amobee for 321 million Singapore dollars in 2012.