Singtel's First Quarter Net Falls 23% Mainly on One-Off Item

By P.R. Venkat

Singapore Telecommunications' net profit in its fiscal first quarter ended June fell 23.1% compared with the same period a year earlier due to a one-off exceptional loss reported by its India associate company Bharti Airtel.

The telecom operator's net profit was 483 million Singapore dollars (US$355.9 million), the company said Monday.

The group's revenue fell 2.7% to S$3.49 billion, mainly because of a weaker Australian dollar.

However, the company's underlying net profit rose 14.5% on year to S$571.0 million due to lower net finance expense and a higher share of profits from associates, including Thailand's Intouch Holdings.

"While we saw better performances and higher contributions from our regional associates as market dynamics improved, increased competition and continued declines in legacy services impacted our core telco business in Singapore and Australia," Singtel chief executive Yuen Kuan Moon said.

Write to P.R. Venkat at venkat.pr@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 20, 2023 20:05 ET (00:05 GMT)

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