Dear shareholders,
This year’s financial results mark a strong start to our Singtel28 growth plan. Underlying net profit increased by 9% to S$2.47 billion, underpinned by growth in our businesses and regional associates. Net profit was more than five times higher at S$4.02 billion, boosted by a one-time exceptional gain of S$1.3 billion from the partial divestment of our Comcentre headquarters.
As underlying net profit serves as the basis for our core dividend payout, the Group will pay a total ordinary dividend of 17 cents for FY2025. This includes a value realisation dividend of 4.7 cents, introduced to share the rewards of our capital recycling programme, by returning excess capital to shareholders.
Singtel28 progress
One year into our Singtel28 growth plan, the progress we have made underscores the fact that the preceding Singtel reset was not an incremental restructuring, but a full-scale transformation that has improved total shareholder returns.
Our annualised total shareholder return of 13% over three years has outperformed the STI (9%) and MSCI Asia ex-Japan Telco Index (3%). Today, Singtel is focused on three key areas of connectivity, digital services and data centres, as we work towards becoming a company that is relevant, competitive and growing. Improvements by NCS and Optus have helped put operational EBIT into the double-digit range of 20%, while our cost optimisation efforts have resulted in savings for our connectivity businesses in Singapore and Australia. We continue to scale Nxera at pace, recently opening our Thai data centre while our Singapore facility is slated for launch in early 2026.
Besides lifting our business performance, a key component of the Singtel28 framework is our active capital recycling programme designed to balance investing for future growth while delivering strong sustainable returns for shareholders. We have made steady progress on this, with more than half of the mid-term target of S$6 billion in assets earmarked for recycling already unlocked. This target has been further raised to S$9 billion as we continue to optimise Singtel’s asset portfolio, bolstering our balance sheet to position us for investments in future growth opportunities.
From assets to advantages
Consistent with our improving financial performance and strong capital position, we have grown absolute dividends from 7.5 cents in FY2021 to 17 cents. A year ago, a value realisation dividend was introduced to distribute excess capital from our asset recycling plan to shareholders. This year, given the strength of our balance sheet and ongoing capital generation, we are embarking on a three-year value realisation share buyback programme of up to S$2 billion until FY2028 to return excess capital to shareholders.
Our capital recycling programme has turned our assets to advantages, creating a more optimal capital structure that has allowed us to strategically transform the business. Together with our dividend policy, which we have enhanced with value realisation dividends, the share buyback plan reinforces our commitment to deliver sustained value creation for shareholders and also reflects our confidence in the Group’s long-term value.
Growth momentum amid uncertainty
The volatility in US tariff policy has resulted in unusual financial market fluctuations and an unpredictable economic narrative. As we are in the services sector, tariff threats, as they now stand, have limited impact on our business, although the trade conflict could see slower economic growth and softer consumer and business sentiment. It is imperative that we stay adaptable and know when to shift course as business sentiment softens and a new corporate landscape and possibly more uncertainty emerges. While it may be easier to see risks rather than opportunities in this environment, our priority is to maintain the growth momentum across our businesses while ensuring we catch the upside in moments of disruption.
Sustainability
Although politics has cast a shadow over sustainability in some parts of the world, we remain committed to sustainability and advancing the climate change targets we have set ourselves. While we have reduced scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions by some 14% in the past year, we recognise that achieving our net-zero goal by 2045 requires collective action across the value chain and have been proactively collaborating with various organisations to keep moving the needle on this front.
To further facilitate better scope 3 emissions tracking, we have worked with the Singapore Business Federation and other partners to develop Singapore’s first Emissions Factors Registry. This provides a centralised platform for industry-specific emissions data, which will enable businesses to measure and report their carbon footprint with greater accuracy. We have also launched our responsible procurement policy, supporting trade association SGTech with its work helping small and medium-sized enterprises with their sustainability journey as well as carbon management and reporting.
Championing people and community
As always, people are at the heart of our business. Given the advancement of AI and the speed at which technology is changing — upskilling and reskilling our people are key. To this end, we have extended our annual S$20 million investment to grow their digital capabilities for the third year running. Almost 50% of our people have been trained in the fundamentals of AI through our Group-wide programmes launched in late 2024.
Our communities are also important to us. When ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred hit southeast Queensland and northern New South Wales in March, causing severe weather and flooding, our Optus colleagues mobilised quickly to restore services and support impacted areas. In the face of community disasters and adversity, we have always responded with care and actions that are meaningful for our communities and we want to thank our Optus colleagues for their resilience under those trying conditions.
Lastly, we would like to thank members of the Board for their support and guidance and our management and people for their unstinting commitment to executing to our Singtel28 growth strategy in the past year. Producing meaningful transformation in an organisation our size is no easy task. It does take the whole village.
The progress we have made across our business has certainly energised our people and we have every confidence we will keep working collectively towards making Singtel a high-performing, resilient company that can deliver strong sustainable returns to our shareholders and stakeholders.