StarHub entertainment service boosts top line in Q1

Singapore service provider StarHub’s entertainment offering was the star performer among its service revenue contributors in the quarter to March, with revenue growing by 21% compared to the prior year period.

Nikhil Eapen

Total service revenue grew by 11% to US$461.6 million compared to the previous year. Mobile revenue was up 13.5%, broadband by 20.4% and enterprise by 3.9%. The figures included the consolidation of acquisition MyRepublic Broadband, without which service revenue was up 6.8%.

Starhub said that its topline growth was backed by healthy operating metrics where ARPU grew year-on-year across most segments despite sustained intense market competition, with strong contributions from enterprise and network solutions.

Service revenue growth also exceeded the company’s full-year guidance released in February.

The company said that its Infinity Play consumer proposition comprising a growing portfolio of products and services across six verticals was increasing its penetration, allowing it to stabilize and improve ARPU. New additions to Infinity Play in the quarter included enhancement of its content offerings for the Entertainment business, especially for the sports category, where it has observed strong take-up of additional Entertainment passes and sports content packages from Premier League subscribers.

The operator was also able to encourage migration to higher bandwidth broadand following the launch of its 10Gbps Ultraspeed plan as part of Infinity Play.

Starhub turned in a net profit of US$37.5 million for the quarter, up 26%.

“Our 1Q2023 performance marks a strong start to the year, running ahead of our FY2023 guidance. We continue to deliver new digital and cloud-enabled products and platforms, strengthening our Infinity Play and All-in-One App proposition for consumers; as well as new Enterprise solutions converging the 3C’s to deliver smart, safe and sustainable solutions for Singapore and beyond. We are on track with our DARE+ transformation, reiterating our operational and financial goals and intend to accelerate into FY2023 to harvest DARE+ benefits from FY2024 and onward,” said StarHub CEO Nikhil Eapen.