Singapore mobile operator StarHub suffered a sharp drop in its net profit for the second quarter of 2019 as four of its five core business segments recorded declines in service revenue.

Net profit plunged 37 per cent year-on-year to SGD39 million ($28.2 million). Overall service revenue fell 5.2 per cent to SGD442 million, with mobile turnover down 9.9 per cent to SGD192 million, pay-TV sales tumbling 23.6 per cent to SGD64.7 million and broadband service revenue dipping 2.2 per cent to SGD45.1 million. Equipment sales decreased 15.4 per cent to SGD110 million.

In a statement, StarHub CEO Peter Kaliaropoulos said: “The quarter saw greater competitive intensity in the consumer mobile market with the entry of new MVNOs and the launch of our all-digital mobile brand giga.”

He noted mobile revenue was stable compared with the previous quarter despite aggressive price competition across the market.

Enterprise growth
Its enterprise business was the only segment to make gains, increasing 14.6 per cent to SGD140 million, with cybersecurity revenue jumping 161 per cent to SGS36.2 million.

Post-paid subscribers increased by 101,000 year-on-year to end June at 1.48 million. Prepaid subs dropped 10.5 per cent to 789,000, with ARPU rising 7.7 per cent to SGD14. Post-paid ARPU fell 11 per cent to SGD40. Average smartphone data usage was 7.5GB a month, up from 5.5GB in Q2 2018.

The operator said its market share by subscribers declined to 26.3 per cent at end-June from 27.1 per cent in the same 2018 period.

For the full year, StarHub expects service revenue to be stable or fall up to 2 per cent year-on-year. Excluding a spectrum payment of SGD282 million, it plans to keep capex at 11 per cent to 12 per cent of total revenue.