StarHub has posted a net profit after tax decreased to $43 million for the quarter ended 31 March 2010 (1QFY2010), a fall of 48% from $82 million in 1QFY2009. Total operating revenue increased 5% to $557 million in 1Q10 from $531 million 1Q09.

StarHub says the quarter saw a high post-paid mobile net add of 27,000 customers. But the higher investment cost for acquisition and retention for smartphone customers resulted in the group EBITDA contracting to $118 million.

Mobile revenue increased 8% to $286 million, contributed partly by the growth in the customer base to 1.97 million. Post-paid mobile services revenue grew 10% to $220 million, accounting for 77% of the Mobile revenue mix. Pre-paid mobile services revenue increased 3% to $66 million y-o-y. Post-paid ARPU grew $2 to S$69; mainly attributed to higher IDD & roaming revenue and higher mobile data subscriptions to offset the lower voice usage revenue, while pre-paid ARPU decreased $1 to $23.

Pay TV revenue remained stable at $102 million. Customer base increased 3% to 541,000. The churn rate was maintained at 0.9%. Pay TV ARPU at $55 was $3 lower y-o-y. The lower ARPU was due to more discount offers as we drive the take up of new program bundles or add-on channels and penetrate into new customer segments.

Broadband revenue slipped 5% to $60 million, compared to a year ago, resulting in the lower ARPU of $48. The lower ARPU was primarily due to higher subscription discounts offers to drive take-up and an increasing mix of lower tier price plans. For the quarter, the MaxOnline customer base increased 7% to 408,000.

Fixed Network revenue increased 1% to $80 million y-o-y. Data & Internet services revenue, which contributes 85% to the Fixed Network revenue mix, grew 1% to $68 million.

StarHub has declared a final dividend of 5 cents per share on a one-tier tax exempt basis in respect of the financial year ended 31 December 2009. The dividend will be paid on 7 May 2010.

Based on the current outlook, StarHub says it is maintaining the y-o-y growth of our group’s 2010 operating revenue to be in the low single digit range and revising its group EBITDA margin to be around 28% on service revenue.

Cash dividend payout remains at a minimum of 5 cents per ordinary share per quarter for FY2010.