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Singapore, 14 February 2007 - StarHub closed
the year 2006 with its full-year operating revenue up 15% to
S$1.8 billion. Net profit jumped 63% to S$360.2 million. For
4Q-2006, revenue also saw double-digit growth of 14% to
S$473.2 million. Net profit of S$141.7 million for the quarter
was recorded, a 93% increase from S$73.3 million recorded in
4Q-2005. The Group’s EBITDA for the quarter grew 24% to
S$146.0 million, compared to S$117.4 million in 4Q-2005.
EBITDA margin as a percentage of service revenue was 32.6%,
260 basis points higher as compared to last year’s 30.0%. On a
full-year basis, EBITDA increased 25% to S$575.3 million from
S$460.1 million previously, while EBITDA margin as a
percentage of service revenue expanded to 33.6% from
31.0%. For the full-year, fully diluted EPS was 69%
higher at 17.4 cents per share over the same period in 2005.
StarHub’s free cash flow rose 30% to S$333.9 million compared
to S$256.9 million in FY-2005. Capital expenditure was
slightly lower at S$247.6 million, from S$247.7 million in the
same period last year. Comparing the year-on-year
growth of each business unit, all four lines of business
recorded double-digit revenue growth. The Broadband business
was the top growth performer at 24%, driven by a larger
customer base and increased ARPU. Cable TV revenue grew 19%
partly due to the higher subscription revenue collected during
the 2006 World Cup season. Fixed Networks increased 17% while
Mobile maintained its growth momentum at 12%.
Financial Highlights
| S$ million |
Quarter
ended 31 December | Full-year
ended 31 December |
| 2006 | 2005 | %
Change | 2006 | 2005 | %
Change | | Revenue |
473.2 | 415.1 | 14.0 | 1,804.8 | 1,570.7 | 14.9 | | Service
Revenue | 448.4 | 391.1 | 14.7 | 1,711.7 | 1,483.0 | 15.4 |
| EBITDA | 146.0 | 117.4 | 24.4 | 575.3 | 460.1 | 25.0 | | Profit
from operations | 89.1 | 67.6 | 31.8 | 361.4 | 256.3 | 41.0 | | Profit
before tax | 83.9 | 65.7 | 27.8 | 352.6 | 248.3 | 42.0 |
| Taxation | 57.8 | 7.6 | @ |
7.6 | (26.9) | nm | | Profit
attributable to shareholders | 141.7 | 73.3 | 93.3 | 360.2 | 221.4 | 62.7 | | Free Cash
Flow | 54.5 | 81.4 | (33.1) | 333.9 | 256.9 | 30.0 |
| nm =
not meaningful
@ = more than –/+ 300%
FY-2006 Financial & Business Highlights
Mobile, Cable TV, Broadband, Fixed Network Services
and Sales of Equipment contributed 51%, 17%, 12%, 15% and 5%
to the revenue mix, respectively.
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Mobile revenue grew 12% to S$919.1
million from S$821.6 million, following a 10%
increase in the customer base to 1.54 million.
Post-paid mobile services revenue rose 6%
year-on-year to S$704.3 million, accounting for 77%
of the Mobile revenue mix. Pre-paid mobile services
revenue grew 35% to S$214.8 million. Post-paid ARPU
remained steady at S$71, while pre-paid ARPU grew
13% to S$27. StarHub’s total mobile market share was
33.1% as at end December 2006. Post-paid market
share was 27.7%, while pre-paid market share was
41.8%. At end December 2006, Singapore’s mobile
market penetration was at 103.4%.
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Cable TV revenue increased 19% to
S$313.2 million from S$262.4 million. The 6% growth
in ARPU to S$48 from S$45 came from a higher
percentage of customers on the digital tier as well
as the additional revenue boost from the World Cup
event. Customer base grew 9% to about 487,000 as at
end December 2006, amounting to a household
penetration of 43.4% compared to 40.1% the previous
year. The number of customers taking the digital
tier grew 63%, from a year ago, to 322,000
households. Digital customers now constitute 66% of
the total cable TV customer base.
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Broadband revenue expanded 24% to
S$219.9 million compared to S$177.2 million
previously. Customers on subscription jumped 17%,
closing the quarter with 325,000 customers. As more
customers upgraded to the higher-tier price plans,
ARPU lifted by S$2 to S$59. Residential broadband
market share stood at 50.6% at year-end.
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Fixed Network revenue increased 17%
to S$259.5 million from S$221.7 million. This was on
the back of a higher volume of domestic and
international lease circuits and higher
international voice traffic.
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Hubbing - The percentage of total
hubbing households who subscribed to any two or more
StarHub services rose from 47.4% a year ago to
50.7%. During this period, the total number of
hubbing households subscribing to at least one
service also grew 5% to 743,000 households.
| "We are
pleased to report another year of strong results, underpinned
by good business fundamentals. Our hubbing strategy continues
to deliver value for consumers and shareholders alike. As
always, the fourth quarter is seasonally impacted by festive
promotions. However, as we expected, this fourth quarter
showed a continuation of a more competitive market that began
in the second quarter, particularly as we chose to respond
more aggressively in certain business segments,” said Mr Terry
Clontz, President and CEO of StarHub. “We are proposing
a final dividend of 3.5 cents per share which brings our total
annual dividend to 11.5 cents per share for FY 2006. In
addition, we intend to increase the leverage in our capital
structure to about 1.8 times net debt to 2006 EBITDA through a
capital management exercise this year,” added Mr Clontz.
Outlook for FY2007
Based on the current
outlook, barring any unforeseen circumstances and changes in
economic and market conditions, our 2007 full year operating
revenue is expected to grow by high single digit. We expect
EBITDA margin to be about 34% of service revenue, and the full
year’s cash capital expenditure as a ratio of operating
revenue for 2007 to not exceed 14%. The Company intends to pay
a minimum annual cash dividend of 14 cents per share for
FY2007. For more details on the Group's performance for
FY2006 and outlook for FY2007, please visit www.starhub.com/ir.
Materials available at this website include the webcast,
investor presentation and audited results for the full-year
ended 31 December 2006. - End -
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