<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>StarHub profit up 3% despite user cutbacks
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Chua Hian Hou
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->STARHUB, Singapore's No. 2 telecommunications company, managed to lift its first-quarter profit by 3 per cent to $82.5 million, despite cutbacks by mobile and broadband users.
The rise was aided by lower corporate taxes and an uptick in the company's highly profitable corporate Internet business.
Revenue was down 0.8 per cent at $530.6 million.
The downturn, according to chief executive Terry Clontz, has resulted in 'lower levels of usage in a few services, as some customers cut back'.
Mobile users are 'watching their usage and choosing to use less...domestic minutes and IDD (international direct dialling) services', he said.
Chief operating officer Tan Tong Hai said residential broadband has also taken a hit, as users 'downtrade for lower-speed packages and opt for direct discounts rather than premiums'.
Nonetheless, he said, 'the diversity of our product portfolio has helped to stabilise our revenue base'.
StarHub's bottom line also got a boost from lower taxes: It paid $18.9 million, $1.7 million less than what it paid in the same period last year.
Mr Clontz said StarHub's star performer was the highly profitable corporate data and Internet service segment, which chalked up a 13 per cent rise in revenue. He expects this business to do even better once the national broadband network is completed by 2012.
StarHub has access to about 800 buildings within the business district. Once the new network is up, it will be able to sell Internet services to companies in about 23,000 buildings.
'We are licking our chops to get at this market, which only the incumbent (SingTel) has access to right now,' he said.
Mr Clontz also sounded an upbeat note about the company's operating company contract win.
The contract awarded by the Government to install equipment directing Internet traffic on this new network comes with the right to sell access to it as well, especially to niche players like online video-gaming firms. This, he said, is a great opportunity since this segment is not very well-served now.
StarHub's biggest challenge, though, will remain the larger economy.
While 'we believe that our infocommunication services remain essential to customers, we expect that there will be some further softening of demand', said Mr Clontz. Earnings per share stood at 4.82 cents from 4.7 cents a year earlier. Group net asset value was at 11.5 cents per share as of March 31, up from 6.3 cents as of Dec 31. StarHub declared a dividend of 4.5 cents a share, the same as the previous year.
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Chua Hian Hou
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->STARHUB, Singapore's No. 2 telecommunications company, managed to lift its first-quarter profit by 3 per cent to $82.5 million, despite cutbacks by mobile and broadband users.
The rise was aided by lower corporate taxes and an uptick in the company's highly profitable corporate Internet business.
Revenue was down 0.8 per cent at $530.6 million.
The downturn, according to chief executive Terry Clontz, has resulted in 'lower levels of usage in a few services, as some customers cut back'.
Mobile users are 'watching their usage and choosing to use less...domestic minutes and IDD (international direct dialling) services', he said.
Chief operating officer Tan Tong Hai said residential broadband has also taken a hit, as users 'downtrade for lower-speed packages and opt for direct discounts rather than premiums'.
Nonetheless, he said, 'the diversity of our product portfolio has helped to stabilise our revenue base'.
StarHub's bottom line also got a boost from lower taxes: It paid $18.9 million, $1.7 million less than what it paid in the same period last year.
Mr Clontz said StarHub's star performer was the highly profitable corporate data and Internet service segment, which chalked up a 13 per cent rise in revenue. He expects this business to do even better once the national broadband network is completed by 2012.
StarHub has access to about 800 buildings within the business district. Once the new network is up, it will be able to sell Internet services to companies in about 23,000 buildings.
'We are licking our chops to get at this market, which only the incumbent (SingTel) has access to right now,' he said.
Mr Clontz also sounded an upbeat note about the company's operating company contract win.
The contract awarded by the Government to install equipment directing Internet traffic on this new network comes with the right to sell access to it as well, especially to niche players like online video-gaming firms. This, he said, is a great opportunity since this segment is not very well-served now.
StarHub's biggest challenge, though, will remain the larger economy.
While 'we believe that our infocommunication services remain essential to customers, we expect that there will be some further softening of demand', said Mr Clontz. Earnings per share stood at 4.82 cents from 4.7 cents a year earlier. Group net asset value was at 11.5 cents per share as of March 31, up from 6.3 cents as of Dec 31. StarHub declared a dividend of 4.5 cents a share, the same as the previous year.
