[SINGAPORE] Singtel’s leadership struck a cautiously optimistic tone on its near to medium-term outlook, even as group chief executive officer Yuen Kuan Moon’s total remuneration for financial year 2025 ended Mar 31 rose 16.8 per cent to over S$8.2 million.
Management cited global economic uncertainties from trade tensions but expressed confidence that a strong balance sheet will help the group navigate upcoming challenges.
In the telco’s latest annual report released on Monday (Jun 30), Yuen said that while the wide-ranging tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump will have limited direct impact on the telecoms industry, their “broader repercussions cannot be ignored”.
The International Monetary Fund has lowered its global growth forecast for 2025 to 2.8 per cent, down from 3.3 per cent previously, as a result of the trade conflict.
Yuen also warned that rising US-China tensions could accelerate tech and financial decoupling, leading to diverging standards that hamper global innovation, requiring Singtel to stay familiar with both Western and Eastern technology ecosystems.
That said, he pointed to Singtel’s strong balance sheet, with S$2.8 billion in cash as at March 2025 and almost 90 per cent of its debt hedged to fixed rates.
BT in your inbox
Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.
“This positions us well to navigate these challenges,” he said.
On growth opportunities, Yuen noted that trends such as cloud technologies, digitalisation and artificial intelligence (AI) are transforming not only industries and businesses but also how individuals live and work.
He identified Singtel’s subsidiaries, IT services management company NCS and data centre Nxera, as “key growth engines in digital services and digital infrastructure”.
Singtel has set a target to increase their combined earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation contribution to the group from 12 per cent in FY2023 to 20 per cent by FY2028.
“Achieving this goal will require both businesses to seize opportunities at speed and scale,” Yuen said.
He noted that enterprises face challenges in effectively and responsibly adopting AI to drive growth and resilience – an area where NCS can guide strategic implementation.
Meanwhile, rapid AI and cloud adoption is fuelling demand for advanced digital infrastructure. Backed by Singtel and partner KKR, Nxera plans to more than double its hyper-connected, AI-ready data centre capacity to over 200 megawatts by 2026.
Yuen said these developments will contribute meaningfully to group earnings as they come online, with innovations such as DeepSeek making AI more accessible and spurring further demand.
Singtel28 progress and Optus recovery
The annual report highlighted that this year’s financial results marked a strong start to the group’s Singtel28 growth plan, which was launched in 2024 to drive “sustained value realisation” for shareholders.
Underlying net profit rose 9 per cent to S$2.47 billion, supported by growth in core businesses and regional associates. Net profit surged to S$4.02 billion, more than five times higher, lifted by a one-time gain of S$1.3 billion from the partial divestment of its Comcentre headquarters.
More than 70 per cent of annual underlying net profit came from overseas operations, through contributions from regional associates Airtel, AIS, Globe and Telkomsel, as well as Australian subsidiary Optus.
In FY2025, Singtel raised its mid-term asset recycling target from S$6 billion to S$9 billion, after crossing the halfway mark with nearly S$4 billion in proceeds from the sale of a 1.2 per cent stake in Airtel in May.
Group chief financial officer Arthur Lang said proceeds from these efforts will continue to fund dividends, share buybacks and investments in data centres and enterprise services.
He added that Singtel is well-positioned to unlock greater value through well-timed sales of stakes, divestments of underutilised assets and deeper capital partnerships in areas with strong potential.
Optus CEO Stephen Rue said restoring customer trust and growing market share in Australia remain top priorities.
The Australian telco was accused of manipulating credit checks and selling products to vulnerable customers but reached a settlement with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in June.
Rue highlighted plans to invest in network upgrades, expand digital offerings and strengthen partnerships to support Optus’ long-term recovery.
Remuneration
Yuen’s total remuneration for the financial year ended Mar 31 was more than S$8.2 million – a 16.8 per cent increase compared with his FY2024 remuneration of over S$7 million.
Based on figures in the annual report, a broad breakdown shows an estimated salary of around S$1.3 million, benefits of about S$77,800, a cash bonus and restricted share award of about S$2.2 million each, and a performance share award of S$2.4 million.
In FY2024, he received more than S$1.3 million in salary, S$1.8 million in cash bonuses and over S$76,380 in benefits.
The report did not disclose a detailed breakdown of remuneration for other key management personnel, including Lang and Rue, citing confidentiality and sensitivity concerns. Instead, it reported an aggregated amount that totalled more than S$29.3 million.
At Monday 12 pm, shares of Singtel were down 0.8 per cent, or S$0.03, at S$3.82.
