It will not bring it in this year By Chua Hian Hou
In a results briefing on Wednesday, StarHub chief executive
Terry Clontz said that Singapore's second largest mobile operator
will not be able to bring the gadget in this year.
But the telco is continuing 'dialogue with Apple', he said
adding, 'At this particular point in time we cannot be specific
when we will have it in our stores... they (Apple) have their
priorities signing on distributors.'
This leaves SingTel as the sole iPhone distributor here for now.
MobileOne had previously said it was in discussions with Apple, but
did not commit to a date. The iPhone, said Mr Clontz, has created
'some consternation' for StarHub.
SingTel sold over 20,000 iPhones since its Aug launch, although
some estimates put the number at over 60,000.
The 'pent up demand' for it is not unexpected, said Mr Clontz,
although 'things seemed to return to normal after three to four
weeks.'
But StarHub 'resisted coming to the market with big offers
because we believed it (iPhone) would run its course - and it
did.'
The company intends to adopt the same defensive strategy this
quarter, in light of the economic uncertainties.
Mobiles operators usually sweeten their offers during the
festive period.
While Mr Clontz expects that 'there will be some promotional
activities in Q4, I believe that all operators, not being able to
predict how deep the recession will be, will put the brakes on a
bit.'
For the three months to Sept 30, StarHub's profit fell 2.1 per
cent to $79.5 million, primarily due to higher content acquisition
costs for its pay TV business.
The 'cost of services', which primarily go towards pay TV
content like football, was up 21 per cent or $13 million, to $73.1
million. By comparison, pay TV revenues was up a comparatively
lower 15 per cent or $12.6 million, to $98.4 million. Slightly
lower mobile revenues, down 0.7 per cent to $264.4 million, was
also a contributing factor.
Revenue was up 2 per cent to $525 million, and earnings per
share was 4.65 cents, down from 4.78 cents the year before. Group
net asset value was 6 cents, down from 6.3 cents as at last
December. StarHub announced a dividend of 0.045 cents per share, up
from 0.04 cents last year.
So far, the company has 'not yet seen any material impact on our
business' from the financial crisis, but it is watching the
situation closely 'in order to manage expenses and investments', it
said.
Despite concerns over the economy, StarHub maintained its
earlier forecast of 7 per cent revenue growth and an 18 cent
dividend payout for its 2008 financial year ending next March.
StarHub shares rose 7 cents to $2.29 on Wednesday.
