StarHub pay TV subscribers down 8,000 in 4Q 2021

SINGAPORE — StarHub reported today Net Profit attributable to shareholders of $148.3 million for the full year ended 31 December 2021 on higher revenue of $2.04 billion.

Entertainment Services

Entertainment service revenue decreased 5.0% and 4.2% YoY in 2H2021 and the full year, respectively, mainly due to a lower subscriber base, offset by higher ARPU achieved by the higher-priced HomeHub bundled plans, lower commercial TV revenue and lower spending on advertising by Enterprise customers.

As of 31 December 2021, Pay TV subscribers stood at 279,000 after the quarter’s net churn of 8,000 subscribers. Compared to a year ago, Pay TV subscribers were lower by 35,000 or 11.2%.

ARPU was S$44 in 4Q2021 and S$42 for the full year, which was S$4 and S$3 higher YoY, respectively, compared to the corresponding periods last year (as explained above). Average monthly churn rate was at 1.1% in 4Q2021 and 1.2% for the full year.

As of 31 December 2021, total Entertainment subscribers stood at 444,000 after the quarter’s net addition of 36,000 subscribers. Compared to a year ago, total Entertainment subscribers were higher by 104,000 or 30.8%, mainly due to higher OTT take-up.

                                                Quarter ended   Full Year ended
                                    -------------------------  ----------------          YoY
                                     31 Dec   30 Sep   31 Dec   31 Dec   31 Dec  Incr/(Decr)
Entertainment operating statistics     2021     2021     2020     2021     2020            %
----------------------------------  -------  -------  -------  -------  -------  -----------

Number of residential Pay TV
subscribers (in thousands)              279      287      314      279      314       (11.2)
ARPU (S$ per month)                      44       43       40       42       39          7.6
Average monthly churn rate             1.1%     1.2%     0.9%     1.2%     0.6%            -
Total Entertainment subscribers*
(in thousands)                          444      408      340      444      340         30.8

Includes residential Pay TV subscribers (with and without over-the-top (“OTT”) subscriptions) as well as Mobile and Broadband subscribers with OTT subscriptions