Singtel kicked off its fiscal year 2025 on an upbeat note, with profit rebounding and steady revenue growth across all business units in the three months to end-June.

Group CEO Yuen Kuan Moon noted the company improved across core operations in Singapore and Australia during its Q1, and saw momentum in growth businesses, which “helped mitigate lower contributions from our regional associates due mainly to significant currency headwinds in Africa”.

He added despite a more challenging macroeconomic environment, “we remain optimistic about the growth opportunities across our markets”.

Net profit jumped 42.9 per cent to SGD690 million ($523.7 million), aided by an exceptional gain of SGD88 million from reducing its stake in Bharti Airtel.

The profit gain comes after it unveiled a growth plan in May following a SGD1.3 billion loss in fiscal H2 2024.

Operating revenue fell 2.1 per cent to SGD3.4 billion due mainly to the absence of contributions from Trustwave. Singtel sold its stake in the US cybersecurity player October 2023.

In Singapore, mobile service revenue grew 6.8 per cent to SGD339 million. The operator said the growth was driven by roaming and IoT connectivity, with strong traction in connected cars.

Its mobile user base grew 6.3 per cent to 4.6 million, led by a 12.3 per cent gain in prepaid subscribers to 1.6 million. Post-paid ARPU rose 4.1 per cent to SGD33 and prepaid fell 18.6 per cent to SGD10.

Optus’ mobile service revenue rose 4.7 per cent to AUD1 billion ($662 million).

Blended ARPU was up 3.7 per cent at AUD32, while mobile subscribers were flat at 10.5 million. Data consumption per month increased 12.7 per cent to 19GB.

Post-tax contributions at its regional units fell 5 per cent to SGD405 million, with strong performances at AIS and Globe Telecom offset by declines from Bharti Airtel and Telkomsel.

Sales at its ICT unit NCS increased 3.8 per cent to SGD707 million and Digital InfraCo grew 5.8 per cent to SGD10 million.