StarHub entertainment spend lifts revenues but subscriber total drops

Singaporean service provider StarHub has posted strong growth in net profit and revenue for the first half of the year, with entertainment revenue growing by 18.2%.

The operator reported today net profit attributable to shareholders of S$76.7 million (US$57.2 million) for the six-month period, a 25.8% year-on-year increase, lifted by higher contributions across all business segments.

Service Revenue grew 7.8% to S$938.1 million in 1H2023 compared to S$870.5 million a year ago, lifted by a 12.8% revenue growth in mobile; 7.6% for broadband; 18.2% for entertainment; and 1.8% for enterprise.

Nikhil Eapen

The company said that the lift in entertainment revenue was due to higher subscription, commercial TV and advertising revenues. These increases were mainly driven by coverage of the Premier League that started in the third quarter of last year.

Entertainment revenue was S$113.9 million.

Total entertainment subscribers numbered 355,000, down 4.2% year-on-year.

Total revenue grew 4.5% to $1,106.1 million from S$1,058.6 million. Excluding the consolidation of MyRepublic Broadband last year, first half total revenue and service revenue grew 2.7% and 5.6% YoY, respectively.

ARPU grew across most segments in the first half despite what the company called sustained intensive market competition.

Postpaid ARPU rose to S$32 from S$29. Entertainment ARPU improved to S$44 from S$38.

StarHub’s Chief Executive, Nikhil Eapen, said: “We sustained our strong start to FY2023 from 1Q into 2Q, registering solid increase in profitability despite our DARE+ investments. We continue to drive consumption through Infinity Play for Singapore consumers; while delivering converged Connectivity, Cloud and Cybersecurity platforms to Singapore enterprises. Concurrently, we are executing our IT and Network transformation, as we build the world’s first autonomous metropolitan cloud network through Cloud Infinity to harness multi-cloud securely and effectively, from core to edge. We are investing significantly in transformation in 2H2023, towards harvesting benefits from 2024.  Our objective is to enhance total shareholder returns and deliver first-of-its-kind value to our Singapore society.”

StarHub said it had exceeded expectations for service EBITDA margin at 22.7%, above the “approximately 20%” guidance, and raised its full-year service EBITDA margin to “approximately 22%” from the original “approximately 20%”.