SINGTEL could dish out potential special dividends of 5.5 cents a share if it divests its 26.1 per cent stake in SingPost, a non-core investment which has been targeted by China' s e-commerce giant Alibaba.

Jack Ma' s Alibaba is investing S$312.5 million for a 10 per cent interest in SingPost to bolster its logistics business.

UOB Kay Hian said in its Retail Market Monitor on Thursday that the telco considers SingPost a non-core asset and will consider divesting if it receives an offer from potential investors.

" SingTel would be able to dish out a special dividend of 5.5 cents/share if it can divest its stake in SingPost for S$872 million, or S$1.765 per share. SingTel' s other non-core assets include wholly-owned NetLink Trust and a 45% stake in Pacific Bangladesh Telecom,' ' the research house said.

 

SINGTEL' S Optus, Australia' s second largest telco after Telstra, reported on Thursday a 10.2 per cent drop in its net profit to A$223 million for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2014, dented by lower revenue, margins, earnings and cash flow.

Operating revenue for the quarter fell 4.9 per cent to A$2.07 billion.

Paul O' Sullivan, Country Chief Officer, Australia, said the weaker revenue was due to " lower equipment sales, lower fixed revenues and lower incoming service revenues from a further industry-mandated decline in mobile termination rates that came into effect on 1 January 2014" .

Optus' quarterly EBITDA fell six per cent while net profit declined A$26 million as depreciation and amortisation charges increased from a higher level of investments in the mobile network.

The quarter saw a steep weakening of the Australian Dollar, Indonesian Rupiah and the Indian Rupee by between 11 per cent and 20 per cent against the Singapore Dollar.

In constant currency terms, net profit would have grown 13 per cent, the telco group said.

EBITDA declined 9.2 per cent, while EBIT and underlying net profit declined 6.2 per cent and 8.1 per cent respectively mainly due to foreign currency weakness.