Singaporean mobile network operator MobileOne Asia (M1) has reported a 2.1% dip in net profits in the three months to 30 September 2006, compared with a year earlier, on the back of a drop in service revenues. The company posted net profits of SGD42.9 million (USD27.2 million) in the period under review, down from SGD43.8 million a year ago, on revenues of SGD189.2 million (down 4.1% year-on-year). For the nine months to 30 September M1 said pre-tax profits increased by 2.3% to SGD158.4 million and net profit went up 0.6% to SGD124.8 million on operating revenue of SGD572 million. The net profit margin on service revenue rose by 1.1 percentage points to 24.5%. Commenting on the results, M1 chief executive Neil Montefiore said: ‘Mobile voice revenue remains under pressure in a mature market but there is good potential for growth in data usage and we will continue to drive that’. The cellco said it was on course to deploy High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) technology on its 3G network by the end of the year, which will enable it to offer downlink speeds of up to 3.6Mbps.
M1 added 18,000 new customers in the third quarter to bring its total customer base to 1.246 million as at 30 September 2006.