StarHub announced that its 3QFY2020 earnings have dropped by 23.3% to $44.5 million from $58.0 million in 3QFY2019. This brings 9MFY2020 earnings to $121.9 million, 19.6% lower than $151.5 million a year ago.
For the quarter, revenue declined by 14.5% y-o-y to $489.7 million, mainly due to lower contributions from Mobile, Pay TV and Sales of Equipment, partially offset by higher revenues from Broadband and Enterprise Business.
Against the corresponding periods last year, Mobile service revenue in 3QFY2020 were 29.4% lower, due to lower postpaid and prepaid revenues.
The decrease in postpaid revenues was mainly due to lower IDD, lower excess data usage, lower roaming due to a significant drop in global travel caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, lower plan subscriptions and lower VAS (value-added services) revenues, partially offset by the increase in SMS usage and voice usage. The decrease in prepaid revenues was mainly due to lower inbound and outbound travel as a result of tightened border controls resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, lower data subscriptions, prepaid expired credit and IDD.
Pay TV service revenue was 16.0% lower y-o-y, mainly due to a lower subscriber base, the cable to fibre migration in the prior year and the Covid-19 impact on commercial revenue and advertising due to cost management by commercial clients.
Broadband service revenue increased 5.5% y-o-y in 3QFY2020, mainly due to reduced subscription discounts that raised ARPUs.
Enterprise Business revenue increased 11.4% y-o-y, mainly due to higher revenues from Cyber security services and the consolidation of Strateq under Regional ICT services, following the completion of the acquisition on July 30.
Revenue from Sales of Equipment decreased y-o-y by 26.8%, mainly due to lower volume of handsets sold due to the Covid-19 impact and delay in the launch of new premium handset models.
Operating expenses also dropped by 13.4% y-o-y to $434.5 million, due to lower cost of sales and other operating expenses, partially offset by the increase in operating expenses relating to Cyber security services and Regional ICT services.
As at end-September, StarHub’s cash and cash equivalents stood at $380.0 million.
Veronica Lai, StarHub’s chief corporate officer says, “We are pleased to see a modest pick-up in our business in Phase Two of Singapore’s re-opening, with q-o-q improvements in service revenues for the Pay TV, Broadband and Cybersecurity businesses, while we continue to forge ahead with our business and cost transformation initiatives. However, our 3QFY2020 performance continued to see impact from the ongoing global restrictions on travel, particularly for our Mobile business.”
On a q-o-q basis, earnings were 19.3% higher, while revenue was 8.0% higher.
To recap, StarHub's CEO Peter Kaliaropoulos announced in July his retirement.
In a Nov 6 results briefing, StarHub said that the global search for a new leader is still ongoing and has already shortlisted the candidates to "less than 10". A new CEO is expected to lead StarHub by early 2021.
Shares in StarHub closed at $1.20 on Nov 6.
