Hopes fade for earnings contributions from SingTel's Digital Life

Digital Life accounted for S$104m earnings loss.

According to Nomura, there were many questions on the rationale and vision for Digital Life. Nomura noted that most investors still aren't very clear, as to how to judge its success or what telcos’ core competencies in exploiting these are.

However, the management doesn’t expect positive earnings contribution for the next few years, and would look to monetize these assets over
time (via IPO or else). Digital Life contributed SGD111mn in revenue and accounted for SGD104mn loss in EBITDA in FY13.

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Mr Allen Lew stated that the world is transforming more into mobile internet and traditional telcos need to embrace this more and more. A key objective of Digital Life is to work with their operating companies to bundle content with access. The 3-pillars of this are digital advertising, mobile commerce, and next generation interactions. 

 Management USD2bn in capex commitment over the next 3 years for Digital Life isn’t set in-stone. It is a rough guideline and the final amount can be higher or lower depending on the opportunity.

 Management also stated that it is working closely with its regional Associates on this and in some instances; it is likely that a joint investment in digital businesses can be made.