SINGAPORE (Aug 5): StarHub posted 5% higher 2Q earnings of $99 million from a year ago.

Total revenue for the three months to June increased 2% to $589 million.

" We are delighted with our performance in the second quarter. We are especially heartened to see the residential Broadband revenue increasing for two sequential quarters,&rdquo says Tan Tong Hai, CEO of StarHub.

&ldquo This quarter, we registered customer growth in all lines of business and low churn rates, a testimony to our Hubbing strategy and quality service experience. We will continue to deliver value to our stakeholders.&rdquo

Starhub says service revenue was up 0.5% to $554.3 million with the increase mainly from fixed network services.

Mobile service revenue for the quarter was 0.2% higher at $310.8 million from an increase in post-paid mobile service revenue.

Revenue from sale of equipment increased 42.6% to $35.2 million due to higher re-contracts for the new smartphones.

Fixed network service revenue grew 5% for the quarter to $96.7 million, contributed by higher take-up of data & internet services.

Broadband service revenue decreased 3.9% to $49.0 million for the quarter.

Pay TV service revenue was 0.6% lower at $97.8 million due mainly to lower advertising revenue.

Based on the current outlook, StarHub expects the group&rsquo s 2015 service revenue to grow in the low single-digit range.

&ldquo We expect our 2015 group EBITDA margin to be about 32% on service revenue. For 2015, we expect our capex payments to be at about 13% of our total revenue. We intend to maintain our annual cash dividend of 20 cents per ordinary share for 2015,&rdquo says StarHub.

StarHub closed 1.1% lower at $3.75.