09 November 2011
Third Quarter And Nine Months Ended 30 September 2011
- YTD O perati ng Revenue Increased 1% To S$1.7 Billion
- YTD EBITDA Margin At 30.4%
- YTD Net Profit After Tax Increased 22% To S$223 Million
- Declares Interim Dividend Of 5.0 Cents Per Share
Singapore, 9 November 2011 – StarHub Ltd today announced its results for the third quarter and year-to-date (YTD) ended 30 September 2011.
Operating revenue rose 4% to S$572.2 million compared to S$552.3 million year-on-year (YoY). For the YTD, it increased 1%. In both instances, the increases were contributed by higher revenue from sales of equipment and increased service revenue. Although the Group’s EBITDA decreased 3% to S$167.2 million for the quarter, it increased 14% YTD to S$490.7 million. EBITDA margin as a percentage of service revenue was 30.8% for the quarter and 30.4% for YTD.
In 3Q2011, profit from operations came in at S$97.1 million, net profit after tax at S$75.8 million and free cash flow at S$148.3 million. Compared to a year ago, profit from operations decreased 9% but increased 17% YTD. Net profit after tax decreased 8% YoY but increased 22% YTD. Free cash flow rose 89% YoY and 36% YTD. Cash capital expenditure was at S$46.1 million for the quarter, 36% lower YoY and S$35.5 million lower YTD.
Business Highlights
Service revenue for both the
quarter and YTD periods recorded growth. YoY, Mobile revenue grew 3%
to S$307.4 million and S$905.4 million for the respective periods.
Post-paid mobile services revenue was 6% higher at S$245.7 million or
5% higher YTD. Conversely, pre-paid mobile services revenue decreased
9% to S$61.7 million YoY, a 5% decrease YTD. Compared to a year ago,
post-paid ARPU increased S$2 to S$74. YTD, it increased S$1. This
increase was mainly due to the higher take-up of SmartSurf plans as
more smartphones become commercially available. Pre-paid ARPU
decreased by S$2 YoY and S$3 YTD to S$19. The lower ARPU was caused
primarily by lower voice usage.
While
Pay TV revenue increased 1% to S$93.4 million YoY, it
decreased 9% YTD. For the quarter, Pay TV ARPU increased to S$50. This
was the result of a higher subscriber base as well as the S$2 monthly
subscription price increase. YTD, Pay TV ARPU was S$49. The YTD
revenue decrease was due to the absence of the 2010 FIFA World Cup
event and the reduction in the Sports package pricing in June 2010.
The customer base was up 1% to 542,000 YoY and the average monthly
churn was similar at 1.2%.
Broadband revenue increased 3% to S$60.2 million compared
to a year ago. YTD, revenue came in at S$4.0 million higher to
S$181.0 million. We saw a S$1 ARPU decrease to S$45 this quarter. For
the nine months, ARPU was also at S$45. The lower ARPUs were mainly
due to a higher mix of customers on lower speed price plans and
hubbing promotional and discounts offers. The residential broadband
customer base grew 6% YoY, ending the quarter with 438,000 customers.
The average monthly churn was 1.1% for the quarter as compared to 1.2%
in the corresponding period last year.
Fixed Network revenue decreased 4% to S$81.7 million.
Data & Internet services revenue, which makes up 84% of the Fixed
Network revenue, decreased 4% from a year ago. The decrease was a
result of pricing pressure in the local and international leased
circuit services despite higher number of circuits sold. Voice
services revenue decreased 7% to S$12.9 million YoY, primarily due to
lower IDD revenue as a result of lower customer usage. YTD, Voice
services revenue at S$41.0 million was S$2.0 million or 5% higher from
higher subscription of local voice services and increased interconnect
revenue, offset by lower IDD revenue.
The number of households subscribing to all three services increased
by 5% or 9,000 to 206,000 households YoY. The total number of hubbing
households with at least one StarHub service totalled 793,000 after
the quarter’s net add of 2,000 households. The number of households
taking more than one StarHub service was up two percentage point to
57% from 55% last year.
“Despite stiff market
competition and a slowing economy, we are happy to see resilient
growth in all our consumer lines of business,” said Mr Neil
Montefiore, CEO, StarHub.
"Moving forward,
we are extremely excited about our strategic and exclusive partnership
with Vodafone in Singapore, as this will enable us to provide an even
more comprehensive range of products and services for our enterprise
customers locally and globally,” he continued. “Riding on the global
mobile alliances of Conexus and Vodafone, StarHub will be able to
leverage on the rapid growth of smartphone and mobile broadband data
roaming by offering higher quality and more cost-effective roaming
services for all our customers,” concluded Mr Montefiore.
Outlook for FY2011
Barring any unforeseen
circumstances and based on the current outlook, we maintain our YoY
growth of the Group’s 2011 operating revenue to be in the low single
digit range, and Group EBITDA margin to be about 30% of service
revenue. Total capex payments for the year are not expected to exceed
12% of operating revenue. In view of the projected profitability and
cash flow in FY2011, we maintain our cash dividend payout at 5 cents
per ordinary share per quarter.
For more
details on the Group's performance for 3Q2011 and outlook for FY2011,
please visit www.starhub.com/ir. Materials
available at this website include the audio conference link, investor
presentation and unaudited results for the quarter ended 30 September 2011.