SingTel sees first revenue fall in 14 yrs

Nomura Securities said revenue and operational trends at Optus were weak, noting Telstra had gained market share in Australia's mobile market after discounting the gains in subscriber numbers following Optus's purchase of Vivid Wireless earlier this year.

Optus, Australia's No.2 telecom after Telstra, saw revenue drop 4 percent to A$2.24 billion ($2.34 billion) during the quarter from a year earlier, due to price competition in mobile phones and a mandated reduction in mobile termination rates.

SingTel shares have risen about 2 percent this year, underperforming a 13 percent gain in the broader Straits Times Index. The stock was down 0.6 percent at 0452 GMT, in line with the decline in the broader index.

HOME MARKET

SingTel fared better in its home market, where revenue rose 4 percent from a year earlier to S$1.67 billion during the quarter, helped by a strong performance from IT and engineering arm NCS. In mobile phones, SingTel's share of the local market rose by 0.2 percentage point from the previous quarter to 46.6 percent.

Even so, SingTel's postpaid average revenue per mobile phone user fell about 6 percent to S$80 during the quarter as roaming income declined amid the growing popularity of cheaper Internet data and voice services such as WhatsApp and Viber.

SingTel's results were also hurt by the strength of the Singapore dollar, which depressed contributions from India, Indonesia and Thailand.

The Singapore dollar has gained 6 percent against

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