Singapore's M1 reported a 14.6 percent year-on-year drop in net profit after tax for its first-quarter financial results.
Net profit after tax decreased to S$36.3 million, partly driven by higher depreciation and interest expenses, said the Operator.
M1's operating revenue however increased 1.2% year-on-year to S$260.7 million while service revenue remained stable at S$201.5 million, as growth in fixed services revenue offset lower IDD and roaming revenues.
Fixed services revenue continued to post strong growth, increasing 22.8% to S$30.0 million and accounting for 14.9% of overall service revenue. The growth was driven by increased residential and corporate signups, and M1 ended the quarter with an 8,000 increase in fibre customers to 168,000.
During the quarter, M1 also added 24,000 postpaid customers and 3,000 prepaid customers, to bring the total mobile customer base to 2.05 million as at 31 March 2017. Monthly postpaid churn remained stable at 1.0%.
Average postpaid smartphone data usage was 3.7GB per month in the first quarter of 2017, from 3.3GB per month a year ago. Mobile data contribution increased 2.0 percentage points year-on-year to 55.1% of service revenue.
At the recent Infocomm Media Development Authority’s General Spectrum Auction, M1 said that it secured 2 x 10MHz of 700MHz and 2 x 5MHz of 900MHz spectrum. The spectrum will enhance network coverage and innovative technologies will be deployed to augment network capacity, added the Operator
Karen Kooi, CEO, M1
We are introducing improved cloud-based service offerings to drive growth in fixed services, and developing new Internet of Things and Smart Nation capabilities and solutions. These efforts will further strengthen M1’s position as the telecommunications provider of choice.
