Singtel boosts interim dividend by 35% to 7 cents

Singtel raised its interim dividend by 35 per cent to seven cents as it reported higher underlying first-half earnings on Nov 13.

- Ann Williams

Excluding one-off items, underlying net profit which Singtel said was the basis of its core dividend payout rose 6 per cent to $1.19 billion. It was up 9 per cent in constant currency terms.

Singtel credited this to better performance from its mobile business, disciplined cost management at its Australian unit Optus and continued margin improvements and solid bookings at its technology services arm NCS.

Its board declared an interim dividend of seven cents per share, up from 5.2 cents a year earlier. This comprises a core dividend of 5.6 cents per share and a value realisation dividend of 1.4 cents per share.

Both will be paid out on Dec 9.

At the same time, the telco's net profit for the six months to September fell 42 per cent to $1.23 billion from $2.14 billion in the year-ago period. This missed a forecast of $1.37 billion, Reuters reported.