Singapore Telecommunications Ltd., Southeast Asia’s biggest phone company, reported an unexpected increase in third-quarter profit after boosting sales at home and in Australia.
Net income rose 0.8% to $998.2 million in the quarter ended in December, SingTel, as the company is also known, said in a statement today. That beat the $925 million average of four analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
Revenue rose 5.7% to $4.7 billion on growth in Singapore and Australia, the company’s biggest markets, which made up for lower contributions from regional operations such as Bharti Airtel Ltd. in India and Indonesia’s PT Telekomunikasi Selular. Chief Executive Officer Chua Sock Koong is counting on smartphones such as Apple Inc.’s iPhone and investments in startups to revive profit growth as markets saturate worldwide.
“Their regional associates are not doing well because competition is keen in countries such as India and Indonesia,” Alfred Low, an analyst at Philip Securities in Singapore, said before the results.
SingTel, whose largest shareholder is Singapore state-owned investment company Temasek Holdings Pte, declined 1% to $3.09 at the close of trading in Singapore yesterday. The earnings were released before trading began today.