Singapore Operator Profit Rises Slightly

Singapore's MobileOne has reported that year on year, profit before tax for the first three quarters of this year increased by 2.3% to S$158.4 (US$101) million and net profit after tax went up 0.6% to S$124.8 (US$79.3) million on operating revenue of S$572 (US$364) million. Net profit margin on service revenue rose by 1.1 percentage points to 24.5%.

M1 added 18,000 new customers in the third quarter to bring its total customer base to 1.246 million as at 30 September 2006.

Neil Montefiore, Chief Executive Officer of M1, said : "Mobile voice revenue remains under pressure in a mature market but there is good potential for growth in data usage and we will continue to drive that. M1 is on schedule to implement High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) for its 3G network by year end, which will offer downlink speeds of up to 3.6Mbps, or 9 to 10 times current speeds. By the end of next year, downlink speeds could be increased to 14.4 Mbps and we believe the HSPA network will offer a viable broadband access service for both the consumer and enterprise markets, with nation-wide coverage and the benefit of full mobility."

Based on the current outlook, M1 estimates its profit after tax for full year 2006 to be similar to 2005."

Posted to the site on 23rd October 2006