NetLink NBN Trust has posted a profit after tax (PAT) of $48.5 million in 1HFY2025 ended Sept 30, down 8.3% y-o-y.
This came on the back of lower ebitda and higher depreciation and amortisation, which was partially offset by higher income tax credit.
Similarly, the group’s revenue saw a 0.2% y-o-y decline to $204.8 million in the same period, due to lower revenue from ancillary projects, which was partially offset by higher installation-related revenue and other revenue, co-location revenue and central office revenue.
That said, Regulated Asset Base (RAB) revenue was higher by $0.7 million as higher connection numbers offset the impact of lower prices for key services, which took effect from April 1.
For 1HFY2025, ebitda fell by 3.8% y-o-y to $143.5 million in 1HFY2025, due to higher operating expenses and the absence of one-off gain on disposal of assets recorded in 1HFY2024. The group’s ebitda margin remained “healthy” at 70.1%.
As of Sept 30, the number of residential connections grew from 1,491,663 to 1,520,005 y-o-y.
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Within the same period, the number of non-residential connections grew from 52,568 to 53,182, Non-Building Address Points (NBAP) connections grew from 2,823 to 3,011, and segment connections grew from 3,218 to 3,774, when comparing 1HFY2025 with the corresponding period last year.
NetLink’s gross debt rose to $810 million as at end-September, up from $765 million as at end-March, while net debt over ebitda rose to 2.2 times from 2.0 times over the same period.
Weighted average debt maturity fell to 1.9 years from 2.4 years and fixed-rate borrowings fell to 74.1% from 78.4%.
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Additionally, the group has reported a distribution per unit (DPU) of 2.68 cents in 1HFY2025, 1.1% higher y-o-y.
Moving forward, the group says that it will continue to explore opportunities to invest in telecommunication and infrastructure-related businesses within Singapore and internationally to broaden its portfolio businesses.
Units in NetLink NBN Trust closed 1 cent higher, or up 1.11%, at 91.5 cents on Nov 4.
