Singapore fixed and mobile operator StarHub booked a 2.6% year-on-year increase in net profit for its third quarter to 30 September 2014, to SGD97.7 million (USD75.6 million), as operating revenue climbed 2.3% to SGD592.0 million from SGD578.8. Revenue from mobile operations rose 1% on an annualised basis to SGD310.9 million, pay-TV sales increased 2% to SGD97.4 million on a sharp rise in the subscriber base, although broadband revenue declined 17% to SGD49.2 million as price competition drove down subscription revenue from both new customers and contract renewals. Group EBITDA for the third quarter was SGD190.9 million, up 2% y-o-y, but 9M14 EBITDA of SGD555.5 million was down 1% on the same period of 2013; EBITDA margin was 34.5% for the quarter and 33.7% year-to-date. The city-state operator also revealed that consolidated profits for January-September fell 3.8% y-o-y to SGD276.2 million.
Operationally, StarHub closed out September with 2.182 million mobile connections, down from 2.280 million a year earlier, 57% of whom were on post-paid contracts. Pay-TV subscribers were up marginally from 531,000 to 539,000, and broadband connections increased by a net 16,000 to 461,000 s StarHub reported success in reducing churn in a difficult market to 1.1% from 1.3% in 3Q13.
‘For the quarter, we are pleased to see continued revenue growth in our mobile, pay-TV and fixed network services,’ said Mr Tan Tong Hai, CEO, StarHub. ‘In spite of the intense competition in the residential broadband environment, we grew our fibre broadband market share and lowered our churn rate … As our 4G customer base grows, we continue to invest in upgrading our LTE-Advanced [Long Term Evolution-Advanced] network to serve them better,’ added Mr Tan. ‘We are also pleased to be the first local operator to support simultaneous high speed 4G data connectivity and crystal-clear VoLTE [voice-over-LTE] calls on the new iPhones. The surfing experience continues overseas, as we offer our customers the widest 4G data roaming coverage.’