Airtel is a blackhole, there is no end to it.
For every $1 cash, Keppel owes $7
For every $1 cash, Singtel owes $14
Singtel earnings fall amid additional Airtel charge
Singapore, August 24 (ANI): Last week, Southeast Asia's largest telco, Singtel, reported lower revenues and earnings for its first fiscal quarter of 2020.
In its voluntary business performance update on August 17, the company revealed that earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) was down 24.2 per cent to SGD 897 million (USD 654 million) from SGD 1.18 billion (USD 860 million) a year ago.
It also took an exceptional charge of SGD 911 million (USD 664 million) as its share of the additional provision of license fee and spectrum usage fee imposed by the Department of Telecommunication of India due to its shareholding in Bharti Telecom Limited.
In its latest financial quarter that ended in June, Singtel recorded an exceptional loss of SGD 911 million (USD 664 million) post tax for its share of the additional provision of license fee and spectrum usage and related interest as a result of the Supreme Court of India's decision on the Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) matter on July 20.
This also took into account an exceptional tax charge from the reassessment of the carrying amounts of deferred tax balances including minimum alternate tax credits as well as adjustments from the resolution of certain tax disputes.
This was offset in part by a gain of SGD 550 million from the dilution of Singtel's effective shareholding in Airtel by 1.4 percentage points following Bharti Telecom Limited sale of 2.75 percent stake in Airtel in May.
Singtel had already taken a pre-tax charge of SGD 2.57 billion in the previous financial year which ended March 2020 as its share of Airtel's net exception losses which was mainly attributed to the AGR dispute.