Varying fortunes for telco

A DAY after splashing out for naming rights at Australia’s third biggest stadium in a controversial deal, Optus has recorded a jump in first-half earnings.

However, it comes as the Singapore-owned telco loses prepaid mobile customers while suffering a slowdown in growth among postpaid mobile customers.

And the first-half earnings growth has not translated into a net profit for the period as Optus continues to absorb the cost of investing heavily into its network and capabilities.

Optus, Australia’s second biggest telco, revealed yesterday it lost 24,000 prepaid mobile customers in the three months to September.

It attracted 75,000 extra postpaid mobile subscribers during the quarter, compared with 107,000 extra in the same period a year ago.

Including mobile broadband subscribers, it now has 9.83 million mobile customers, up from 9.77 million three months ago.

The update comes after Optus, which is owned by Singapore Telecommunications, was announced on Wednesday as the inaugural naming rights sponsor at Perth Stadium.

In a 10-year deal struck with the WA Labor government , the venue – due to open in January – will use the trading name Optus Stadium.

the WA government will reportedly collect about $50 million over that period, or less than 3.5 per cent of the stadium’s $1.6 billion cost.

The sponsorship deal was widely panned in Perth, with former Liberal premier Colin Barnett telling ABC radio it reflected “small-minded, pedestrian thinking” in a city that needed to brand itself better internationally.

With a capacity of about 60,000, the stadium will be the third biggest in Australia behind the MCG and Sydney’s Stadium Australia.

Optus said its sponsorship reflected “a broader commitment to Western Australia and enables (us) to showcase technology to deliver innovative fan engagement at major events”.

For the six months to September, the telco posted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of $661 million – a 4.4 per cent jump from the same period a year ago. But net profit slipped 4 per cent to $175 million.