Singapore-based operator group SingTel reported an increase in second-quarter net profit despite recording a drop in group revenue compared to a year ago.

Net profit for the period was up 3.2 percent at SGD945 million (US$758.6 million) on revenue of SGD4.53 billion, 1.6 percent down on Q2 2011.

However, this profit increase was only acheived due to a number of exceptional gains during the period. The group received SGD119 million from the disposal of its investment in Far EasTone Telecommunication and a further SGD36 million from a legal dispute related to its Australian unit Optus. It also accrued costs of SGD46 million from a restructuring project in the same division.

Excluding these exceptional items, the group’s underlying net profit fell 2.6 percent to SGD850 million. SingTel said a weaker Australian dollar and regional currencies adversely affected the results.

SingTel Group CEO Chua Sock Koong said the group “delivered a resilient performance” despite regional currency variations and “operating challenges in India”, reflecting the “strength of diversity of the Group’s operations”. The group saw a healthy growth in subscriber numbers compared to a year earlier, adding 46.1 million subscribers – an 11 percent increase – to hit 462 million subscribers in total. On a proportionate basis, the subscriber base stood at 163 million, up 3.6 percent quarter-on-quarter.

SingTel’s wholly-owned divisions in Singapore and Australia (Optus) experienced differing fortunes during the second quarter. The Singapore business generated revenue of SGD1.67 billion for the period, up 7.5 percent, while revenue from Optus fell 6.2 percent to SGD2.86 billion, partly due to mobile termination rate cuts and lower equipment sales.  In Singapore SingTel had 3.64 million subscribers (up 6.5 percent) and Optus had 9.51 million mobile subscribers, up 4.6 percent.

SingTel’s associate divisions – including Indonesia’s Telkomsel, Thailand’s AIS and India’s Bharti Airtel – contributed SGD506 million excluding exceptional items, up 1.2 percent. Taking into account exceptional items, associate revenue was SGD483 million, up 2.4 percent year on year. Sales would have risen 9 percent if exchange rates had remained unchanged compared to a year ago, according to SingTel.

Telkomsel contributed the largest proportion of associate revenue with SGD241 million, up 14.7 percent year on year, followed by AIS with SGD107 million, up 38.1 percent. Revenue from Airtel, however, fell 38.4 percent to SGD95 million.