Singtel’s 3QFY19 operating revenue grew 0.9% YoY to S$4.6b (+3.7% in constant currency terms) with contribution from equipment sales and higher digital business revenue with a full quarter’s contribution from Videology, Inc. Total mobile revenue grew 1.9% YoY to S$2.3b, due mainly to higher equipment sales revenue. Lower voice usage, higher mix of SIM-only plans and price competition did, however, weigh on mobile service revenue.

Operating EBITDA fell 10.6% YoY to S$1.2b, on the back of margin erosion in carriage services, lower NBN migration revenues as well as one-offs in 3QFY18. Regional associates’ PBT fell 34.7% YoY to S$342m due mainly to Airtel, which continued to be adversely impacted by the ongoing pricing pressure in India.

Underlying net profit fell 28.4% YoY to S$679.8m, which formed 21.7% of our full-year estimate. We deem this set of results to be broadly under our expectations.

Pending an analyst briefing, we maintain our BUY rating but place our FV of S$3.95 under review.

Source: OCBC Research - 14 Feb 2019