Page 18 - Annual Report 2014
P. 18
CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT Overview
The industry, as a whole, faces external changes.
We need to and will adapt our business
models accordingly.
Dear Shareholders Whilst on the road, the SMB owner can still keep close Strategy
It has been a decade since StarHub was listed on the tabs on the company's projects and deadlines with
SGX-ST. The local info-communications landscape smart devices and applications offered as part of our Performance
has transformed over the years. The industry, as a Mobility solutions. At home, the SMB owner can unwind
whole, faces external changes. Consumers’ info- with family members to enjoy our wide-ranging pay Governance
communications usage habits have changed with new TV programmes offered as part of our Entertainment &
technologies, while businesses demand more from their SmartLife solutions. Financials
IT and communication service providers. We need to
and will adapt our business models accordingly. We want to grow the consumer market, but we also
see equally exciting opportunities in the enterprise
It is always a challenge to grow our revenue and and SMB markets. The concept of Hubbing has served
margins, and yet make investments necessary for our consumer business well. We see no reason why
future growth in a saturated market. We believe we are business customers cannot benefit from the same
up to this challenge, and I am pleased to report that we approach. The business market will hear more from us.
plan to keep our quarterly dividend of 5 cents per share
in FY2015. Recap 2014
Our biggest revenue generator is still in Mobile.
Shareholders can be assured that we are not We further upgraded our mobile network to 4G LTE-
maintaining the status quo as far as business Advanced, offering speeds of up to 300Mbps, so as to
operations are concerned. 2013 was the year when we meet growing mobile data usage. New 4G plans were
made changes in the way we manage and organise introduced in September. As more subscribers travel
the company, so that sharper strategies can be better overseas for work or leisure, we have also expanded
executed in 2014 – and we did. our 4G data roaming agreements with over 30 network
partners in over 25 countries.
For the full year, we posted operating revenue of
$2.39 billion, up 1% from FY2013’s $2.37 billion. Our pre-paid business is facing a slowdown in its core
EBITDA was also 1% higher year-on-year (YoY) at user base – the foreign workers. The government’s
$747.9 million, while EBITDA margin as a percentage restriction on prepaid SIM cards registered per user
of service revenue was at 33.7%. Net profit for the year may also dampen this business. Meanwhile,
was 2% lower YoY at $370.5 million. over-the-top (OTT) applications may siphon potential
revenue opportunities from the industry as a whole.
While ‘Hubbing’ remains the cornerstone of our overall We are countering these challenges, for instance,
strategy, we have made further refinements in the way by partnering OTT players like LINE and WeChat to
we execute this multi-pronged, synergistic approach to introduce unlimited data plans to access their services
deliver value to our consumer and business customers. for the pre-paid segment.
Notably, we see growing convergence between these Our TV business remains strong. Our content team
two groups of customers shaping up into what is called has brought in a wider spread of appealing programmes
a ‘duality’ concept. This concept is also reflected in and channels of popular genres like lifestyle and drama
this year’s annual report. For instance, a small and not just in English but also Mandarin, Malay, Tamil
medium business (SMB) owner can use our Fixed and Hindi.
Network services to tap into our SmartBusiness cloud
marketplace for the company’s computing needs.
StarHub Ltd | Annual Report 2014 15
