Aug 13 (Reuters) – Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel) reported a 21% rise in first-quarter underlying net profit on Thursday, as stronger contributions from its regional associates offset weaker performance in its domestic operations.
Post-tax contributions from regional associates rose 16.1% to S$543 million, primarily supported by bigger gains from India’s Bharti Airtel and Thailand’s Advanced Info Service (AIS).
That helped offset a 3.1% decline in operating revenue at Singtel Singapore, which was weighed down by continuing price competition.
Singtel, Southeast Asia’s largest telecom operator, said underlying net profit was S$831 million ($649.22 million) for the three-month period ended June 30, compared with S$686 million a year earlier.
That beat the Visible Alpha consensus estimate of S$746.1 million.
Shares of the company were down 1% in early trade.
($1 = 1.2800 Singapore dollars)
(Reporting by Shruti Agarwal and Anjali Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
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