The results highlight the challenge facing StarHub as it pivots toward digital infrastructure and cybersecurity while still battling fierce price competition in its core consumer market. Service revenue slipped 1.3% to $2 billion, with mobile down 7.7%, entertainment 7.1% and broadband largely flat.
Enterprise partially offsets consumer pressure
Regional enterprise business provided the main offset, rising 2.9% to $614.6 million. Managed services revenue climbed 5.3% to $341.9 million as governments and corporates upgraded cloud, network and security platforms. The managed services orderbook expanded 6.7%, improving revenue visibility.
StarHub attributes the growth to its modern digital infrastructure platform, which combines connectivity, cloud, cybersecurity and automation into a single layer. Its edge lies in embedding AI in IT operations rather than acting as a traditional systems integrator, says Tan Kit Yong, head of the Enterprise Business Group.
See also: Keppel enters 25-year deal with 'global telco' for Bifrost subsea cable system
The approach is being extended regionally through the consolidated Strateq, JOS Singapore and JOS Malaysia entities that underpin StarHub’s regional footprint. Tan points to the company’s ICT infrastructure work for the Rapid Transit System (RTS) project between Singapore and Johor as proof of cross-border capability, adding that clients with presence in both countries increasingly view StarHub as an integrated regional partner.
He also shares that StarHub plans to pursue selective M&A to add data analytics, cybersecurity and AI capabilities to accelerate scale.
Cybersecurity sits alongside StarHub’s modern digital infrastructure push as regulation and threat complexity drive demand for integrated security operations. On the Ensign InfoSecurity divestment, CEO Nikhil Eapen says StarHub is in “quite advanced stages” of selling a 17% stake to its co-shareholder to reduce its holding from the current 55.73% and enable the group to “realise material proceeds in a significant gain.” He indicates an update is likely in the first quarter.
See also: StarHub focuses on quality and bundling as Singapore telco price war intensifies
The progress of the enterprise business is set against a fragile consumer base. Mobile subscribers ended the year at 2.21 million after a cleanup of inactive prepaid accounts, while average revenue per user (ARPU) held steady at $22 in 4QFY2025. Broadband users slipped to 568,000 with ARPU at $34.
According to Eapen, fourth-quarter mobile and broadband revenue showed “zero [sequential] erosion”, with StarHub maintaining a 600-basis-point lead over the third-ranked operator.
Matt Williams, StarHub’s chief of its Consumer Business Group, says the company will defend its market share through brand segmentation, pairing quality-led plans under the StarHub label with a “complete portfolio of challenger brands”, consisting of Eight, giga! and MyRepublic. He adds that Eight is seeing “rapid growth,” while MyRepublic has delivered “sustained growth” since its acquisition.
Outlook and costs
CFO Jacky Lo called 2026 “a year of disciplined execution.” Ebitda is forecast at 75% to 80% of the 2025 level amid intense consumer competition, partly offset by enterprise momentum and early savings.
Capital expenditure will run at 13% to 15% of revenue, excluding spectrum, covering 5G, IT and cybersecurity. StarHub is targeting $70 million in savings from 2026 to 2028 across legacy decommissioning, network optimisation, systems re-architecture and simplification, with most benefits expected in the next two years, shares Lo.
Eapen stresses that this is separate from the Dare+ transformation, adding that 2026 will be an execution year, before savings land “in 2027, and more so in 2028”.
Lo says the dividend policy of at least 6 cents per share, or 80% of adjusted profit, remains intact, leaving 2025 payouts at a 113% ratio. Cash stood at $857 million, with net debt-to-ebitda at 2.0 times, and the company expects a return to positive free cash flow in 2026 after spectrum payments pushed 2025 into the negative.
