Singapore operator StarHub issued a slightly gloomy prediction for full year earnings following declines in Q3, though CEO Peter Kaliaropoulos was bullish on momentum around new post-paid tariffs during the quarter.

In a statement, the executive highlighted continued competitive intensity, the entry of new players and aggressive pricing plans as challenges. However, StarHub “remains encouraged by the strong momentum seen in the sign-up of giga and our Hello Change post-paid plans”.

Kaliaropoulos said the company is conducting 5G tests and proof-of-concept trials with a number of partners, and plans to submit a proposal for a nationwide 5G network following an Infocomm Media Development Authority invitation to operators last month.

The operator forecast full year service revenue would decline by 2 per cent to 3 per cent year-on-year. Capex, excluding a spectrum payment of SGD282 million ($207.6 million), is expected to be between 8 per cent to 9 per cent of total revenue.

Third quarter
Net income rose 6.1 per cent over Q3 2018 to SGD56 million, with total service revenue down 5.4 per cent to SGD435 million after declines in mobile, pay-TV and broadband.

Mobile service revenue dropped 11.1 per cent to SGD190 million, which the company said was due to lower excess data usage, roaming, data subscriptions and value-added services revenue.

Post-paid ARPU fell 11.4 per cent to SGD39, while prepaid was down 7.1 per cent to SGD13.

Prepaid subscriber numbers fell 6.1 per cent to 785,000, with its overall base broadly flat at 2.23 million (0.3 per cent higher). Average monthly data usage increased from 5.9GB in Q3 2018 to 8.8GB in the latest quarter.

Equipment sales increased 12.5 per cent to SGD138 million as more premium handsets were sold.

StarHub’s Enterprise unit was its one bright spot, with revenue up 16.7 per cent to SGD146 million.