SINGTEL offered assurances yesterday that it had no plans to offload its Australian subsidiary, Optus, which was largely responsible for a strong third quarter for SingTel.
''No decision has been made on selling or listing Optus,'' SingTel chief executive Chua Sock Koong said in reply to persistent speculation that the company was planning a partial sale of its stake.
''I would also emphasis SingTel remains a long-term strategic shareholder in Optus,'' she said.
SingTel reported a 24 per cent rise in net profit for the three months to December 31 to $S991 million ($A803.4 million) on a 20 per cent rise in group revenue to $S4.5 billion.
Optus chief executive Paul O'Sullivan claimed the company had continued to take market share from its local mobile rivals based on Optus increasing its mobile service revenue by 11 per cent.
Optus also grabbed a record 164,000 post-paid customers for the quarter. Its overall mobile customer base declined for the quarter as the company deactivated 272,000 inactive prepaid customers, a move that had no impact on revenue, Mr O'Sullivan said.
Ovum analyst Nathan Burley said it was a ''good rather than great performance, with Optus only slightly outgrowing the industry in mobile. But, we will not know for certain until Telstra and VHA (Vodafone Hutchison Australia) numbers are announced,'' he said.
The mobile division dominates Optus, accounting for 63 per cent of its revenue and 68 per cent of earnings, according to Ovum, which said Optus continued to tread water in its corporate and consumer business groups.
Optus' revenue increased 4.8 per cent to $A2.3 billion while underlying earnings grew 3.6 per cent to $A529 million. The profit margin was stable at 23 per cent. With the Australian dollar gaining 27 per cent against its Singaporean equivalent in the quarter, Optus' modest revenue rise translated into a 33.1 per cent rise for its parent.
Pre-tax earnings from SingTel's regional mobile associates increased 22 per cent to $S592 million, with Indonesia the strongest contributor. SingTel's share of earnings from PT Telekomunikasi Selular, Indonesia's largest mobile-phone operator, gained 53 per cent to $S238 million.
SingTel's dual-listed stock closed up 6¢, or 2.5 per cent, on the ASX, at $2.43.
