Singapore fixed and mobile operator M1 Limited (M1) has reported its unaudited financial results for the three months ended 31 March 2013, showing a 1.8% year-on-year rise in net profit to SGD41 million (USD33.2 million); quarter-on-quarter, net income increased by 8.4%, it added. Service revenue grew by 4.2% y-o-y to SGD200 million, aided by strong demand for post-paid mobile and fixed customers. Revenue from non-voice services increased by 2.6 percentage points in the period under review to account for 39.5% of service revenue, driven in large part by growth in data usage by smartphone customers. M1 says that smartphone customers now account for 77% of its contract subscriber base.
M1 closed out March 2013 with a total of 2.045 million mobile users, of which 223,000 were 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) customers. Monthly post-paid churn improved to 1.1% in 1Q13, compared to 1.3% in 4Q12. In the fixed broadband segment, M1 added a net 8,000 new fibre customers to bring its NGN base to 60,000. Commenting on the performance, M1 chief executive Karen Kooi, said: ‘The faster 4G network and devices will continue to drive data usage. The extension of 4G service to the pre-paid segment and availability of lower-cost 4G devices are likely to spur take-up of 4G service.’ Based on Singapore’s current economic outlook and barring unforeseen circumstances, M1 estimates moderate growth in net profit for full year 2013.