Singapore Telecommunications, Southeast Asia’s biggest phone company, said second-quarter profit fell 6.7% as gains in Australia and Singapore were offset by a drop in contributions from regional units.

Net income was $892 million in the three months ended Sept. 30, compared with $956 million a year earlier, the company said today in a stock exchange statement. That’s lower than the $969 million average of four analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

SingTel, which owns Sydney-based Optus, benefited from a 7% appreciation of the Australian dollar against Singapore’s currency and higher revenue from Singapore and Australia. Those gains failed to offset higher acquisition costs at its Indian unit, Bharti Airtel, the company said.

“The earnings were impacted by the inclusion of the first full quarter losses from the newly-acquired Africa operations by Bharti and the related acquisition financing cost,” the company said in a statement today.

SingTel declined 2.1% to $3.25 at the close of trading in Singapore yesterday. The company reported earnings before the start of trading today. Of the 23 analysts tracked by Bloomberg in the past 12 months, nine had buy ratings, one recommended that investors sell the stock, and the remainder rated the stock “hold”.