Management Discussion and Analysis
| Financial Year ended 31 March | |||||||||
| 2020(1) (S$ million) |
2019 (S$ million) |
Change (%) |
|||||||
| Net cash inflow from operating activities | 5,817 | 5,368 | 8.4 | ||||||
| Net cash outflow for investing activities | (2,921) | (2,329) | 25.4 | ||||||
| Net cash outflow for financing activities | (2,447) | (3,056) | -19.9 | ||||||
| Net change in cash balance | 450 | (16) | nm | ||||||
| Exchange effects on cash balance | 37 | 4 | @ | ||||||
| Cash balance at beginning of year | 513 | 525 | -2.3 | ||||||
| Cash balance at end of year | 1,000 | 513 | 95.0 | ||||||
| Optus | 1,285 | 1,006 | 27.7 | ||||||
| Singtel and other subsidiaries | 1,202 | 1,242 | -3.2 | ||||||
| Associates (net dividends after withholding tax) | 1,294 | 1,402 | -7.7 | ||||||
| Group free cash flow | 3,781 | 3,650 | 3.6 | ||||||
| Optus (A$ million) | 1,396 | 1,028 | 35.8 | ||||||
| Cash capital expenditure as a percentage of operating revenue | 12% | 10% | |||||||
“@” denotes more than 500%.
Notes:
- Includes the effects from adoption of SFRS(I) 16, Leases, from 1 April 2019 on a prospective basis. The adoption has resulted in higher operating cash flow from lower operating lease payments now classified as part of financing cash flow.
Net cash inflow from operating activities grew 8.4% to S$5.82 billion on positive working capital and lower tax payments which offset the decline in earnings and lower associates’ dividends. Dividends received from the associates fell 7.7% due mainly to a lower contribution from Telkomsel and the absence of dividends from Airtel India.
The investing cash outflow was S$2.92 billion. During the year, Singtel received proceeds of S$128 million from the disposal of a property in Singapore and S$148 million as return from its investment as a pre-IPO shareholder in Airtel Africa. Payments were made for Singtel’s subscription to Airtel’s rights issue of S$735 million and Optus’ acquisition of 3.6 GHz spectrum for S$163 million (A$185 million). Capital expenditure totalled S$2.04 billion, comprising S$1.36 billion (A$1.45 billion) for Optus and S$682 million for the rest of the Group. In Optus, capital investments in mobile amounted to A$895 million with the balance in fixed and other investments. The other major capital investments for the rest of the Group included S$318 million for fixed and data infrastructure, S$181 million for mobile and the balance for ICT and other investments.
The Group’s free cash flow grew 3.6% to S$3.78 billion on higher operating cash flows partially offset by higher capital expenditure. On a comparable basis to last year where operating lease payments were classified as part of operating cash flow, free cash flow would have declined by 8.5%.
Net cash outflow for financing activities amounted to S$2.45 billion. Major cash outflows included net interest payments of S$463 million, and payments of S$1.75 billion for final dividends relating to FY 2019 and S$1.11 billion for interim dividends relating to FY 2020, partly offset by net increase in borrowings of S$726 million.
