GROUP CONSUMER
Group Consumer contributed 56% (FY 2017: 57%) and 66% (FY 2017: 66%) to the Group’s operating revenue and EBITDA respectively. Operating revenue and EBITDA grew 2.7% and 2.3% respectively with growth in Australia partly offset by decline in Singapore. EBIT declined 2.0% on higher depreciation and amortisation charges on network investments, spectrum and new billing system.
In Singapore, operating revenue fell 2.7% impacted by fierce competition in mobile services and continued decline in voice services due to data substitution. Mobile Communications, which contributed 54% of Singapore Consumer’s revenue, fell 3.3% on declines in both local and roaming voice revenues and increased mix of SIM-only plans which reduced the subscription revenues. The declines were partially offset by strong growth in mobile data. Consumer Home revenue (comprising fixed broadband, Singtel TV and voice) was stable as robust growth in fixed broadband was offset by the decline in TV revenue. With lower operating revenue, EBITDA declined 4.5%.
In Australia, operating revenue grew 3.9% and increased 5.8% excluding the impact of mobile service credits from device repayment plans. The increase was driven by strong customer additions in mobile and fixed broadband, increased Equipment sales and higher National Broadband Network (NBN) migration revenues despite the temporary suspension in connecting and migrating customers to NBN’s HFC network. Outgoing mobile service revenue rose 1.7% and would be up 5.7% excluding the service credits. Optus gained mobile market share with net addition of 384,000 customers, underpinned by its investments in network and content. Mass Market Fixed revenue grew 9.4% driven by higher NBN revenue from net addition of 225,000 customers for the year. With higher operating revenue and increase in other income from a dispute settlement, EBITDA grew by 4.0%.
GROUP ENTERPRISE
Group Enterprise contributed 38% (FY 2017: 39%) and 36% (FY 2017: 38%) to the Group’s operating revenue and EBITDA respectively. Operating revenue was stable with growth in ICT and Equipment sales offsetting the decline in traditional carriage services. ICT services was boosted by strong contributions from cyber security, cloud, and smart cities which in total contributed approximately S$1.1 billion in revenue, an increase of 15% from a year ago. EBITDA and EBIT declined 3.0% and 3.9% respectively due to increased mix of lower-margin ICT business with investments in new growth platforms and pricing pressures in traditional services. In April 2018, the Group consolidated its cyber security operations across Singtel, Trustwave, Optus, and NCS into a single global unit to strengthen and scale the cyber business to accelerate growth.
GROUP DIGITAL LIFE
Group Digital Life has three main businesses, namely digital marketing (Amobee), regional premium OTT video (HOOQ) and advanced data analytics and intelligence (DataSpark). Operating revenue doubled to S$1.08 billion driven by first time contribution from Turn (acquired in April 2017) and strong performance from Amobee’s media and social businesses. With higher operating revenue, negative EBITDA and EBIT were lower by 58% and 37% respectively. Amobee achieved positive EBITDA for the year as it leveraged on increased scale and synergies with Turn while HOOQ’s losses narrowed on higher operating revenue.