Singtel Q3 profit slides 1.7 percent, forex hurts

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore Telecommunications Ltd reported a 1.7 percent fall in third-quarter net profit, nearly in line with estimates, as adverse currency movements and investments offset growing mobile data usage by its customers.

Singtel, Southeast Asia's biggest telecommunications operator, posted a net profit of S$954 million ($687 million) for the three months ended December, compared with S$970 million a year ago. Underlying net profit, excluding one-off items, was S$955 million.

The average forecast of three analysts polled by Reuters was for a net profit of S$957 million.

Revenue rose 1.1 percent to S$4.47 billion.

($1 = 1.3889 Singapore dollars)

(Reporting By Aradhana Aravindan; Editing by Stephen Coates)