Bharti's share in Singtel Q2 profit rises 26%

Singapore's leading telecom firm SingTel today said contribution of Bharti Airtel, in which the company holds nearly 32 per cent stake, to its profit rose by 26 per cent to 236 million Singapore dollars (around $170 million) for the July-September quarter.

Singtel posted a profit of 956 million Singapore dollars for the quarter ended September, a growth 10.1 per cent compared to the same period alst year.

"The Group's share of pre-tax contribution from Bharti increased 26 per cent to 236 million Singapore dollars. The growth was also due to lower fair value losses on mark-to-market valuation on its foreign currency denominated liabilities," SingTel said in a statement.

SingTel said Bharti Airtel added 33 million customers during the quarter to take the total number of subscriber base to 110.5 million as on September 30, 2009.

Although, operating revenue growth slowed to 9 per cent and revenue per user also dropped as a result of "intense competition" and new players entering Indian mobile market.

SingTel's consolidated revenue rose to 4.10 billion Singapore dollars in the July to September quarter of 2009 from 3.89 billion Singapore dollars in the year-ago period.

The group's overall good result is led by robust performance in its Singapore and Australia businesses and strong earnings recovery by Telkomsel, which provides cellular services in Indonesia.

The company said, "Our strong financial results were achieved amid a cautious economic climate and despite the negative currency impact."

SingTel group's revenue in Australia grew 7.4 per cent and in Singapore by 8.2 per cent, both driven by strong results in mobile markets with robust growth in customer base.

In the second quarter, pre-tax contribution from the Group's regional mobile associates posted strong double-digit growth of 32 per cent to 571 million Singapore dollars from a year ago, reflecting Telkomsel's strong performance.

Telkomsel registered its third consecutive quarter of market share gain to about 51.4 per cent.

SingTel Group Chief Executive Officer Chua Sock Koong said, "Taking into account the results of the Group to date and the general improved economic outlook, we now expect for the current financial year the operating revenue of each of the Singapore and Australia businesses to grow at single-digit level and EBITDA of the respective businesses to grow at low single-digit level."