Singaporean telecom major Singtel today reported a 7.7 per cent rise in the first quarter net profit at S$945 million, on the back of strong performance by India’s Bharti Airtel, in which it has 30 per cent stake.
Singtel raked in a net profit of S$878 million in the same period a year ago, it said in a statement.
The company’s bottom line for the three months ended June 30, 2009, was bolstered by Bharti and Indonesia’s Telkomsel, in which Singtel holds nearly 35 per cent stake. In the first quarter, Singtel’s consolidated revenue rose to S$3.84 billion from S$3.77 billion in the same period a year ago.
“This (first) quarter, higher contributions from our regional mobile associates, in particular, Telkomsel and Bharti, helped to drive the group’s earnings, despite the negative currency impact,” SingTel International Chief Executive Officer Lim Chuan Poh said.
“The associates contributed 53 per cent to the Group’s underlying net profit, up three percentage points from a year ago,” Poh said.
Singtel’s share of Bharti’s pre-tax ordinary profit in Indian rupee terms increased by 26 per cent as it added 8.4 million customers for the three months ended June, the Singapore-based firm noted.
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Bharti, the leading Indian mobile phone operator, crossed the 100 million mobile customer mark and had 102.4 million customers as at June 30, 2009, an increase of 48 per cent from the year-ago period, Singtel said.
In the first quarter, the “group’s share of fair value gains on Bharti’s US dollar and Yen borrowings was S$23 million compared to a loss of S$15 million a year ago as the Indian rupee strengthened against these currencies,” it noted.
The statement noted that pre-tax ordinary contribution from regional mobile associates climbed 12 per cent to S$624 million in the first quarter. SingTel Group Chief Executive Officer Chua Sock Koong said that current operating environment remains a challenge.