The telecommunications company purchased a total of 450,000 shares in the last five trading days at the price of S$1.09 per share.

 

The company&rsquo s share buyback was renewed in April, and it has acquired 15,929,700 shares since then.

 

In June this year, StarHub : CC3 -1.83% announced it would set aside S$50 million to repurchase up to 3 per cent of its issued share capital, or approximately 51.9 million shares, to enhance long-term total shareholder returns.

 

The programme will facilitate the return of excess cash to shareholders, the company said, and was proposed after considering factors such as the group&rsquo s short- to mid-term capital requirements and cash flow trends, as well as its future growth plans and funding needs.

 

StarHub said its business model is shifting, and that it will be substituting more of its capital expenditure needs with operating expenditures instead. The company also generates &ldquo healthy cash flow&rdquo , it said.

 

Its free cash flow was S$131.1 million for the first nine months of 2023, up 13.7 per cent from S$115.4 million in the year-ago period.

 

The telco reported a 36.5 per cent growth in net profit in its latest quarter&rsquo s earnings, to S$37.3 million. For the nine-month period, net profit was up 29.1 per cent on the year to S$114 million.

 

Total revenue for the quarter also expanded 5.3 per cent to S$622.1 million. For the nine-month period, its total revenue was 4.8 per cent higher, at S$1.7 billion.

 

Last week, StarHub also announced the sale of one of its subsidiaries, cryptographic technology company D&rsquo Crypt, to conglomerate ST Engineering at an initial consideration of S$67.5 million.

 

The deal also includes a S$5 million earn-out consideration &ndash a form of deferred consideration paid out when certain business goals are met.

 

The divestment allows StarHub to optimise its resources for other businesses, the company said.

 

The counter has risen 3.8 per cent this year, to close down 1.8 per cent at S$1.07 on Friday.

 

That gives it a historical price-to-earnings ratio of 26.8 times, and a dividend yield of 4.63 per cent.

 

MAINBOARD-LISTED telco StarHub posted a 36.5 per cent rise in net profit to S$37.3 million for the third quarter ended Sep 30, up from S$27.4 million in the corresponding period a year earlier.

 

Total revenue grew 5.3 per cent year on year to S$622.1 million, from S$590.8 million a year ago.

 

Service revenue for the quarter grew 8.9 per cent on the year to S$526 million, as a result of increased contributions across most business segments, as well as the consolidation of MyRepublic Broadband subscribers, said StarHub in a business update on Wednesday (Nov 8).

 

The telco also recorded higher operating expenses, which increased by 3.9 per cent to S$568.7 million in Q3, up from S$547.1 million in the year-ago period.

 

For the nine-month period ended Sep 30, 2023, StarHub&rsquo s net profit rose 29.1 per cent on the year to S$114 million its total revenue was 4.8 per cent higher, at S$1.7 billion.

 

Commenting on the results, Starhub chief executive Nikhil Eapen said that the company has maintained its momentum into Q3 and delivered &ldquo solid growth&rdquo year on year.

He noted that its service revenue growth of 8.2 per cent for the first nine months of 2023 exceeded its earlier guidance range of 3 per cent to 5 per cent.

 

He added that its service earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) margins of 21.8 per cent for the nine-month period was in line with earlier guidance of about 22 per cent.

 

Eapen also said that the company will continue to put operating and capital expenditure towards rolling out its Dare+ programme. Dare+ refers to the building of StarHub&rsquo s 5G network and other IT expenditures as part of its five-year growth road map, which was launched in 2021.

 

&ldquo We reiterate our Dare+ outcomes and our ambition to transcend beyond telco with first-of-its-kind platforms, to enhance long-term total shareholder returns and value for our society and all stakeholders,&rdquo he said.

 

StarHub also said that it will retain its assigned rights for pure-play cybersecurity provider Ensign InfoSecurity for two additional years until Oct 4, 2025, which will maintain the group&rsquo s effective interest at 55.73 per cent.

 

Ensign InfoSecurity was formed in 2018 from a joint venture between StarHub and Temasek Holdings.

 

A mechanism has been put in place for the telco to potentially retain the assigned rights beyond the 2025 deadline, either through a further extension to be negotiated with Temasek, or through a transfer of the assigned rights shares for a consideration to be determined.