Q4 net profit down 17 percent, beats forecast
* Singapore revenue seen growing by single digits
* Singapore, Australian operation "resilient"
* Says earnings impacted by strong Singapore dollar
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By Harry Suhartono
SINGAPORE, May 14 (Reuters) - SingTel <STEL.SI>, Southeast Asia's largest telecommunication firm, said on Thursday quarterly net profit fell 17 percent, hurt by a strong Singapore dollar, but said its domestic and Australia operations were "resilient".
The company said on Wednesday its total number of mobile phone subscribers grew 34.6 percent at the end of March to 249.4 million from a year ago, but it warned on Thursday that its Singapore revenue is only expected to grow at single digits.
"This quarter, Australia and Singapore continued their strong momentum and showed resilience with their impressive revenue and earnings growth despite the economic uncertainties," Chua Sock Koong, SingTel Group Chief Executive Officer, said in a statement.
The company derived more than two-thirds of its revenue and EBITDA from its operations outside Singapore. Facing a saturated domestic market of just 4.6 million people, SingTel has spent S$18 billion in the past few years to capture a slice of the market in high-growth Asian countries such as India, Indonesia, and in the bigger Australian market.
SingTel, 55 percent-held by state investor Temasek [TEM.UL], logged January-March attributable net profit of S$903 million compared to S$1.09 billion a year ago. The earnings came above analysts' forecast for S$836.5 million by Reuters Estimates
Fourth quarter revenue fell 5.1 percent to S$3.57 billion, while a stronger domestic currency saw full year 2008/2009 revenue up by only 0.6 percent.
SingTel, Singapore's biggest listed firm with a market value of nearly $30 billion, booked a quarterly underlying net profit before goodwill and exceptionals of S$959 million, down from S$968 million a year ago.
SingTel shares fell nearly 1 percent in January-March versus a 3.5 percent fall in the broader Straits Times index <.FTSTI>.
