Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel), the largest telecom firm in Southeast Asia, has reported a 9% increase in annual profit, driven by strong performances from its Optus unit and regional associate Airtel. This growth has led to the announcement of a S$2 billion share buyback over the next three years. The company's underlying net profit for the full year, ending March 31, reached S$2.47 billion, up from S$2.26 billion the previous year, although slightly below the Visible Alpha consensus estimate of S$2.56 billion.

Optus experienced a 5.7% growth in full-year earnings, attributed to improved core mobile performance. Contributions from SingTel's associates grew by 13%, primarily driven by India's Bharti Airtel, which nearly doubled its quarterly profit due to higher tariffs and subscriber growth.

Despite the positive results, SingTel CEO Yuen Kuan Moon acknowledged the presence of macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties, particularly the volatility in tariff policies. While tariffs do not directly impact SingTel's service-oriented business, trade conflicts could indirectly affect it through softer consumer and business sentiment.

Looking ahead to fiscal year 2026, SingTel anticipates earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT), excluding contributions from associates, to grow in the high-single digits. This follows a 20% EBIT growth in fiscal year 2025. The company has also surpassed half of its S$6 billion mid-term asset recycling target after selling a 1.2% stake in Airtel for S$2 billion last week and has raised the target to S$9 billion.

CEO Moon emphasized that the progress in capital management allows the company to return more value to shareholders. Accordingly, SingTel has declared a final dividend of 10 Singapore cents per share, an increase from the 9.8 cents declared the previous year.