StarHub boosted its second quarter profit by 11% to S$87 million ($70 million), on the back of higher subscriptions to its pay TV service.
Singapore's second-largest telecom carrier reported a 4% higher operating revenue of S$591 million. EBITDA margins stood at 32% for the quarter, which was a 1.6 percentage point increase from the year before.
StarHub said the Euro 2012 broadcast in June led to higher pay TV service revenue for the quarter. As a result, pay TV revenue jumped 12% YoY to S$103.7 million, while ARPU increased S$5 to S$54. For the quarter, the company had 543,000 pay TV subscribers.
"We are pleased to see an 11% growth in profit for the quarter and a successful broadcast of the Euro 2012, the first exclusive content subject to the cross-carriage regime,” said Neil Montefiore, CEO of StarHub. “Our subscribers were also able to enjoy the sports event on our inaugural TV Anywhere service; an Internet TV platform available on multiple screens, anytime, anywhere.”
Mobile service also performed well, with revenues increasing 1% YoY to S$306.2 million. Post-paid mobile services revenue was 3% higher at S$246.4 million, with ARPU increasing S$2 to S$75. Pre-paid mobile services revenue decreased 6% to S$59.8 million for the quarter. ARPU decreased S$2 to S$18.
Broadband revenue increased 2% YoY to S$62.4 million, as the residential broadband customer base grew 2% YoY, ending the quarter with 439,000 customers. Fixed Network revenue rose 6% to S$88 million from a year ago. Data and internet revenue grew 6% to S$72.9 million while Voice services revenue increased 4% to S$15.2 million YoY.
Looking forward, StarHub expects revenue growth to maintain in the low single-digit range and EDIBTA margin at 30%. The company also intends to keep its 2012 capex to be about 11% of operating revenue and its annual cash dividend at S$0.2 per share for 2012, StarHub said in a statement.