SingTel’s Q1 profit rises as telecom, IT businesses perform strongly

(Reuters) -Singapore Telecommunications posted a 5.4% rise in its first-quarter profit on Thursday, driven by strong performance in its domestic and Australian telecom operations as well as in its IT business.

Operating earnings for Australian telecom unit Optus rose 4.2% to S$475 million. SingTel’s domestic operations also rose about 4% to S$385 million.

That helped boost the telecom operator’s underlying net profit to S$603 million ($458.28 million) for the three months ended June 30, compared with S$571 million a year earlier.

Southeast Asia’s leading telecom firm also forecast high single- to low double-digit growth in operating earnings for the full year.

($1 = 1.3158 Singapore dollars)