A fall in turnover in hotly contested consumer segments took a chunk out of Singapore’s StarHub’s firstquarter earnings, it reported yesterday.

But the telco has shed more light on its mobile virtual network operator strategy, with fibre broadband company MyRepublic unveiled as its first partner. Listed rivals M1 and Singtel already have network leasing arrangements.

Net profit slid to $61.5 million for the three months to March 31, marking a 14.9 per cent drop from the previous year.

Turnover was 4.7 per cent lower at $561 million.

The slump in mobile and payTV service revenues, as well as reduced turnover from equipment sales, could not be offset by enterprise fixed service gains.

StarHub called the enterprise fixed segment “a constant bright spot, with a third successive quarter of doubledigit revenue growth”.

Its performance was lifted on consolidation of the Accel Systems & Technologies and D’Crypt cyber security acquisitions.

Th Company posted $561 million in revenue, down 4.7 per cent from the same period last year, profit of

$61.5 million in net profit, down 14.9 per cent. It paid a dividend of of 4 cents pert share, unchnaged from the same period last year. – Th e Straits Times

New Sime facility to produce 10,000 BMW engines a year

The new 132 million ringgit Sime Darby Auto Engineering (SDAE) facility in Kulim, Malaysia , will produce 10,000 BMW engines per annum to cater to the growing demand for locally assembled vehicles with innovative capabilities in engine assembly technology.

Sime Darby Motors (Malaysia/Thailand/Taiwan) managing director Dennis Ho said that the 10,000 units were the product of a single shift.

“Should we go on two shifts, the volume would double to 20,000. Currently, the plant is operating on a single shift,” Ho told reporters after the opening of the plant in Padang Meha here.

Also present were BMW Group senior vicepresident (production engines and electrified powertrains) Ilka Horstmeier, Sime Darby chairman Tan Sri Wan Abdul Wan Abdullah, and BMW Group Malaysia chief executive officer Harald Hoelzl.

Ho added that there was no compromise on the quality of the engines produced here.

“The standards of the quality checks used at this SDAE plant in Padang Meha are similar to those used in Germany.

“The parts and components are imported from Germany,” Ho pointed out.

The plant is located on 2.4ha with a builtup area of 8,500 sq m.

“SDAE has invested over RM132mil in the new engine assembly plant that would support BMW’s growing demand for locally assembled vehicles with the newest capabilities in engine assembly technology, as well as support the premium automaker’s export initiatives to other markets in the region,” Ho said. – The Star

Vietnam industrial growth soars in first four months

Vietnam’s industrial production index (IPI) retained a significant 11.4 per cent growth rate in the first four months of this year, much higher than the 6.6 per cent increase in the same period last year.

In the January-April period, the manufacturing and processing sector, which accounts for nearly 80 per cent of overall industrial value, saw the strongest growth with 14 per cent, compared to 9.5 per cent in last year’s corresponding period, GSO said.

Meanwhile, electricity production and distribution increased 9.7 per cent, and water supply and wastewater treatment went up 5.5 per cent. The mining sector witnessed a modest decline of 1.2 per cent. – Viet Nam News