The Positive
+ Bharti is still the star performer. 3Q23 PAT for Bharti jumped 151% YoY to S$113mn despite the 7% currency headwind. Earnings growth was supported by mobile ARPU in India rising 18% YoY to Rs193 (S$3.10) and 4G subscriber growth of 11% to 216.7mn subscribers. Â
The Negative
– Optus sluggish profits. Mobile subscribers were flat QoQ at 10.3mn despite some initial churn post the cyber attack. Nevertheless, EBITDA contracted 14% YoY to S$474mn from increased staff and investments in new businesses.
Outlook
The two growth drivers for Singtel remain Bharti and Singapore mobile. Optus and NCS profitability is still sluggish. Optus requires significant realignment of cost to improve on its persistently paltry returns of 0.8% ROE (annualised). NCS is in an investment phase in building up its IT headcount, especially in more competitive geographies.
Paul has 20 years of experience as a fund manager and sell-side analyst. During his time as fund manager, he has managed multiple funds and mandates including capital guaranteed, dividend income, renewable energy, single country and regionally focused funds.
He graduated from Monash University and had completed both his Chartered Financial Analyst and Australian CPA programme.