SINGAPORE (Apr 16): M1 reported a 0.9% rise in first-quarter earnings to $34.1 million in 1Q18 from $33.8 million in 1Q17.
Operating revenue rose 0.5% to $254.1 million from $252.8 million. Service revenue increased 3.0% to $184.7 million, driven by higher fixed services and postpaid revenues with the growing corporate and government segment contributed 37% of service revenue.
Fixed services revenue increased 13.9% to $31.9 million, accounting for 17.3% of service revenue. The growth was driven by increased signups in both the residential and corporate segments. M1 ended the quarter with a 5,000 increase in fibre customers to 194,000.
Mobile services revenue increased 2.6% to $140.9 million. Contribution from mobile data increased to 61.3% of service revenue, up from 54% a year ago. Average postpaid smartphone data usage was 4.5GB per month in the first quarter of 2018, up from 3.7GB per month a year ago.
During the quarter, M1 added 12,000 postpaid customers, to bring the postpaid customer base to 1.3 million as at 31 March 2018. Monthly postpaid churn remained stable year-on-year at 1.0%.
In its outlook, M1 says it is progressively scaling up its Info-Communication Technology (ICT) and digital capabilities.
"We are at the forefront of Internet-of-Things (IoT) solutions and are well placed to capture the growth in the Corporate and Government segment that is driven by digital transformation and Smart Nation initiatives," says M1.
As a premium service provider competing on quality service and customer experience, M1 will continue to strengthen its telco core and enhance its offerings and value propositions to address the needs of its customers.
Shares in M1 closed at $1.79.
