Singaporean fixed, mobile and broadband operator StarHub reported full-year operating revenues of more than SGD2 billion (USD1.41 billion) in 2007, up 12% year-on-year, while fourth-quarter revenues also saw double-digit growth of 14% to SGD539 million. StarHub said quarterly EBITDA rose 8% y-o-y from SGD146 million to SGD157 million, while full-year EBITDA climbed 12% to SGD643 million. The group’s EBITDA margin edged up slightly from 33.6% to 33.7%. Q4 2007 operating profit came in at SGD99 million, 11% higher year-on-year, and for the full year was 15% higher at SGD417 million. Net profit in 2007 of SGD330 million was boosted by a tax credit of SGD20 million StarHub said, while in 2006 the group’s net profit of SGD360 million was inflated by a one-off tax credit of SGD77 million. Excluding these exceptional items, the operator’s 2007 net profit from operations would have increased 10% from SGD283 million to SGD310 million. Free cash flow expanded 45% y-o-y to SGD483 million and CAPEX fell 14% on 2006 to SGD213 million.
StarHub said full-year mobile revenues grew 13% to SGD1 billion, driven by a 14% rise in the customer base to 1.76 million. Post-paid mobile services revenues increased by 10% y-o-y to SGD776 million, on a 7% rise in monthly ARPU to SGD76, and represented roughly three-quarters of the operator’s mobile revenues for the year. Pre-paid services revenues climbed by 22% to SGD261 million, despite a SGD1 fall in monthly ARPU to SGD26. The group’s CATV business reported a 9% revenue gain to SGD342 million as its customer base increased by 4% to 504,000. StarHub also reported a healthy rise in broadband sales, up from SGD220 million to SGD247 million in 2006, as its MaxOnline user base grew by 6% to 346,000 customers. Broadband monthly ARPU also climbed SGD1 to SGD60 as more users switched to higher speed plans, it said. Fixed network revenue rose 8% y-o-y to SGD280 million on the back of increased sales of higher margin data and internet services.