M1 1H profit falls 17.6%

Singapore’s M1 has reported a 17.6% slump in net profit for the first half of the year to S$68.8 million ($50.3 million) as a result of flat revenue and higher depreciation and interest expenses.

Service revenue stayed at $406.2 million despite a 22.3% year-on-year increase in fixed service revenue to S$61.2 million.

Mobile revenue by contrast fell 2.9% to S$317.1 million, and international call services revenue declined 9.6% to S$28 million.

M1’s total customer base grew 4.5% during the six-month period to 2.2 million, including 176,000 fiber customers.

On the mobile front, postpaid customers grew 3.7% to 1.3 million with prepaid customers up 2.5% to 777,000. But the shutdown of the operator’s 2G network during Singapore’s 2G switch-off led to a slight decline in total mobile customers to 2.04 million.

M1 also announced an increase in average postpaid smartphone data usage to 3.9GB per month, up from 3.3GB a year ago. Mobile data’s contribution to total service revenue meanwhile increased 1.5 percentage points to 55.5%.

Based on the first-half results and the current economic outlook, M1 said it is forecasting an overall decline in net profit for the full year, but CEO Karen Kooi said the company is positioned for long term growth.

“M1 is well positioned to capture new opportunities presented by the digital economy. We have been investing in NB-IoT network and digital solutions, and expanded our offerings to include managed infrastructure services, cyber security, business solutions and analytics,” she said.

“This would enable us to better serve our customers and generate new revenue streams for future growth.”