M1, the no. 3 Singapore operator, has posted a flat result for the nine months to September 30, offsetting a fall in revenue with lower costs and high data usage.
It announced a S$113.1 (€54.5) million profit for the first nine months on Friday, compared with S$113.5 million for the same period last year.
Operating revenue fell 6.7% to S$565.3 million but the ebitda margin on service revenue was up 44.3% thanks to lower operating costs, the company said.
Non-voice revenue increased 2.4 points to make up 25.6% of service revenue. Non-SMS mobile data revenue accounted for 11.9% of mobile revenue for the quarter, more than double this time last year.
M1 now has 1.718 million customers, up 49,000 for the quarter, and compared with 1.621 million a year ago.
CEO Karen Kooi said operating conditions “remain challenging without a firm or sustainable rebound in spending.”
She said the company looked forward to the launch of the iPhone by year-end, and expected the start of Singapore’s next-gen broadband network next year to spark sales of fixed-line broadband services.