Singapore’s biggest telco, Singapore Telecommunications Limited (Singtel, SGX: Z74), enters 9 December 2025 at an interesting crossroads: the share price is just off all‑time highs, a chunky interim dividend is being paid today, and investors are trying to weigh booming data‑centre and 5G upside against the headaches of its troubled Australian arm, Optus.
Below is a deep dive into the latest news, forecasts and analysis on Singtel stock as of 9 December 2025, suitable for readers tracking the counter on Google News and Discover.
Singtel share price snapshot on 9 December 2025
As of the morning session on 9 December 2025, Singtel is trading around S$4.58 per share on the SGX, up about 0.4% on the day. [1]
Key current metrics:
- Last traded price: ~S$4.58
- 52‑week range: S$3.03 – S$4.92, with the 52‑week (and all‑time) high of S$4.92 set on 18 November 2025. [2]
- Market cap: ~S$75 billion
- Trailing PE ratio: ~12.3x
- Forward PE: ~21x
- Trailing dividend per share (TTM): ~S$0.17, implying a yield of about 3.7% at recent prices. [3]
After a powerful rally through most of 2025 – Singtel delivered a 12.4% total return in November alone, topping the Straits Times Index’s 2.2% gain – the stock has seen a modest pull‑back from its November peak. [4]
Short‑term technical commentary from StockInvest still tags Singtel as a “buy or hold candidate”, but notes the share is off roughly 4–5% over the last 10 trading days as it consolidates below S$4.60. [5]
In other words: this is not a beaten‑down recovery play anymore; it’s a near‑blue‑sky‑high large cap that has paused for breath.
Big moving piece today: Singtel’s interim dividend hits shareholders’ accounts
Today, 9 December 2025, is also dividend day.
Singtel is paying out its FY26 interim dividend of 8.2 cents per share today. [6]
That 8.2 cents is made up of:
- 6.4 cents “core” interim dividend, and
- 1.8 cents of “value realisation dividend”, funded by its ongoing asset‑recycling programme. [7]
The ex‑dividend date was 20 November 2025, with a record date of 21 November 2025, as confirmed by SGX corporate actions. [8]
Layer this on top of the 10 cents per share final dividend paid in August 2025 for FY25, which itself included a value‑realisation component. [9]
For income‑oriented investors, the key takeaway is that Singtel is now very explicitly running a “core + value realisation” dividend framework, returning some of the proceeds from asset sales directly to shareholders.
Earnings momentum: H1 FY26 profit surge and upgraded guidance
The core of the bullish story sits in the numbers Singtel reported in November for the first half of FY26 (the six months to 30 September 2025):
- Underlying net profit rose 14% year‑on‑year to S$1.35 billion.
- Reported net profit jumped to S$3.4 billion, up around 176% from S$1.2 billion a year earlier, boosted by S$2.05 billion of one‑off gains from selling part of its Bharti Airtel stake and the merger of Thai associate Intouch with Gulf Energy. [10]
Operationally, several engines were firing:
- Optus (Australia): earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) rose 27% to A$283 million on the back of higher mobile usage and revenue growth. [11]
- NCS (IT services arm): EBIT jumped 41% to S$184 million, helped by margin expansion as it leans into higher‑value digital and cloud projects. [12]
- Regional associates (Airtel, AIS, Telkomsel, Globe): contributed S$915 million in post‑tax profit, up 16%, led by Airtel’s strong performance. [13]
On the back of this, management:
- Raised full‑year guidance: from “high single‑digit” EBIT growth in core operations to high single‑digit to low double‑digit for FY26.
- Lifted expected FY26 contributions from regional associates by S$100 million, to around S$1.1 billion. [14]
In short: underlying profitability is climbing steadily, and the one‑off gains from disposals are not masking a weak core – they sit on top of improving fundamentals.
Capital management: Airtel stake sales, buybacks and a beefier balance sheet
Singtel has been systematically recycling capital out of mature assets and into growth platforms such as data centres and 5G.
Airtel stake sales and asset recycling
In FY25, Singtel:
- Raised about S$2.0 billion by selling a 1.2% stake in Bharti Airtel in May 2025. [15]
- Announced that underlying profit for the FY25 year (ending 31 March 2025) grew 9% to S$2.47 billion. [16]
In November 2025, it followed up by selling an additional 0.8% Airtel stake for around S$1.5 billion via block deals, again as part of its asset‑recycling strategy. [17]
According to The Smart Investor, these and earlier disposals have brought total capital raised under Singtel’s active capital management programme to around S$5.6 billion, more than half of its revised mid‑term asset‑recycling target of S$9 billion. [18]
The proceeds have been used to:
- Cut net debt, which stood at about S$8.7 billion after the May Airtel sale, and
- Fund dividends and buybacks without over‑levering the balance sheet. [19]
Share buyback programme and dividend policy
In May 2025, Singtel unveiled a S$2 billion share buyback to be executed over three years, alongside raising the asset‑recycling goal from S$6 billion to S$9 billion. [20]
Taken together with the steadily rising ordinary dividend and the new value‑realisation dividend, Singtel is now very clearly returning substantial cash to shareholders, even as it invests in capital‑hungry digital infrastructure.
Growth pillars: 5G+, data centres and NCS
Singtel is trying to evolve from “just” a telco into what it calls a digital infrastructure and services platform. Three growth vectors matter for the stock story.
1. 5G and 5G+ leadership in Singapore
Singtel has aggressively invested in its standalone 5G network:
- Singapore reached about 95% standalone 5G coverage with Singtel’s buildout, making it one of the first countries globally to achieve near‑full 5G SA coverage. [21]
- In 2025, the network was further enhanced with low‑band 700 MHz spectrum, improving deep indoor and nationwide coverage. [22]
- OpenSignal’s June 2025 report shows Singtel with the widest 5G coverage in Singapore and a leading 5G Coverage Experience score of 9.1/10. [23]
On 15 May 2025, Singtel launched “5G+”, a next‑generation evolution of its 5G network targeting higher speeds, lower latency and better experience for both consumers and enterprises. [24]
Network slicing – essentially carving virtual “lanes” in the network for different applications – has been rolled out to both enterprises and consumers, with more than 1.5 million customers automatically upgraded to 5G+ Priority by May 2025. [25]
2. Data centres and the Nxera platform
On the infrastructure side, Singtel’s Digital InfraCo segment, anchored by its Nxera data‑centre business and AI cloud platform RE:AI, is a major focus:
- In February 2025, Singtel secured a S$643 million green loan to build “DC Tuas”, a 58‑megawatt, high‑density AI data centre in Singapore, due to start operations in 2026. [26]
- The facility is specifically designed for high‑density AI workloads and is part of Singtel’s net‑zero and sustainable financing strategy. [27]
Even more eye‑catching is the potential KKR–Singtel bid to fully acquire ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (STT GDC):
- Reuters reported in November that KKR and Singtel are in advanced talks to buy out the remaining stake in STT GDC in a deal valued at over S$5 billion (US$3.9 billion), which would be one of Asia’s largest data‑centre transactions. [28]
In Singtel’s November results briefing, management indicated that its Nxera unit expects EBITDA to grow more than 20% over the next four years as new capacity comes onstream, riding rising demand for sovereign‑grade AI and cloud infrastructure in Asia. [29]
If executed well, this digital infrastructure strategy effectively gives Singtel exposure to the AI and cloud “picks‑and‑shovels” trade through powered shells, connectivity and edge computing – areas typically valued at higher multiples than legacy voice and SMS.
3. NCS and enterprise digital services
NCS has quietly become a serious profit driver:
- Revenue in the first half of FY26 rose 6% to S$1.5 billion, while EBIT grew 29% after stripping out one‑off items. [30]
- It’s pushing integrated solutions that marry network connectivity, cloud, cybersecurity and system integration – exactly the kind of bundle large enterprises and governments increasingly want.
NCS’ growth helps diversify Singtel away from pure consumer telecoms and pulls the group further into IT services and digital transformation, a structurally higher‑growth niche.
The Optus headache: outages, scrutiny and regulatory risk
For all the shiny 5G and data‑centre headlines, the single biggest shadow over Singtel remains Optus.
Emergency services outage linked to deaths
In September 2025, Optus suffered a 13‑hour outage that disrupted emergency “000” calls in parts of Australia and has been linked to at least three to four deaths. [31]
Regulators and politicians reacted sharply:
- Optus is now the subject of a parliamentary inquiry and multiple investigations. [32]
- There is open debate in Australia about whether Singtel, as the 100% owner, has taken enough responsibility for Optus’ repeated crises, following the 2022 cyberattack and earlier outages. [33]
Singtel’s share price fell about 2.3% to S$4.31 on the initial news of the outage in late September, marking its sharpest one‑day drop in nearly two months. [34]
In early December, Optus suffered yet another incident: an outage affecting around 95,000 fixed‑line NBN customers in Brisbane and parts of Queensland, though mobile and emergency services were apparently not impacted this time. [35]
Management’s response
At the November results briefing, CEO Yuen Kuan Moon stressed that:
- Optus has invested A$33 billion in its network since 2002, including A$9 billion in the last five years.
- Optus has devoted a higher share of revenue to capex than rival telcos and has not paid dividends up to Singtel in recent years, with Singtel instead injecting capital for spectrum renewals. [36]
He also said Singtel is not ruling out divesting Optus in the long term, but the current priority is rebuilding trust with Australian consumers and regulators. [37]
Investors have to treat Optus as both:
- A turnaround opportunity – its earnings actually rose strongly before the September outage; and
- A regulatory and reputational risk, with the possibility of fines, additional capex, and customer churn pressuring returns.
Analyst views and target prices as of early December 2025
The latest wave of analyst reports paints a broadly constructive picture on Singtel, albeit with some divergence on valuation.
Citi: “Better value” after share price correction
On 8 December 2025, Citi resumed coverage on Singtel with a “Buy” rating and a higher target price of S$5.08, up from S$4.92 previously. [38]
Key points from Citi’s note:
- Singtel offers a mix of steady cashflow from developed markets (Singapore and Australia) and growth via emerging‑market associates in India, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines.
- The analysts highlight the potential for strategic reviews and value crystallisation across Singtel’s portfolio.
- They expect double‑digit earnings growth into FY2027–FY2028 and see the current correction from the S$4.90 peak as offering “better value”. [39]
- Their bull‑case target is S$5.34, while the bear‑case is S$3.93, mainly reflecting different assumptions on currency and Bharti Airtel valuation. [40]
Crucially, Citi argues that worries about potential Australia‑related fines from Optus’ outages may be partially offset by Singtel’s strong capital‑management levers and liquidity. [41]
Street consensus: double‑digit upside
Across the street, consensus is tilted bullish:
- Growbeansprout (aggregating SGX and broker data) pegs the consensus target price at S$5.21, implying about 13.8% upside from the current S$4.58 share price as of 9 December 2025. [42]
- SGinvestors collates recent target prices from local brokers:
- Maybank: S$5.08 (BUY)
- OCBC Investment: S$5.75 (BUY)
- RHB: S$5.20 (BUY)
- Phillip: S$4.86 (ACCUMULATE)
giving a target range of S$4.86–S$5.75 and an average around the low S$5s. [43]
On the international side:
- TipRanks shows seven analysts covering Singtel over the last three months, all of them rating it “Buy”, giving a “Strong Buy” consensus rating.
- Their average 12‑month target is S$5.01, with a high estimate of S$5.35 and a low of S$4.62, representing about 9.5% upside from a reference price of S$4.58. [44]
Morningstar: more cautious on valuation and moat
Morningstar takes a more conservative stance:
- Its latest analyst note from November 2025 lifts Singtel’s fair value estimate to S$4.36, up 19%, citing improving Optus performance and strong associates, but still below the current market price. [45]
- Morningstar previously downgraded Singtel’s “moat” rating to “no moat”, largely because of structural challenges and competitive pressures at Optus, even as it nudged fair value higher over time. [46]
So while most sell‑side brokers see double‑digit upside, at least one major independent research house thinks the stock is slightly overvalued relative to its intrinsic worth.
Competitive position: still the dominant Singapore telco
Singtel remains Singapore’s largest telco, majority‑owned by Temasek. It operates through four main segments: Optus (Australia), Singtel Singapore, NCS, and Digital InfraCo. [47]
In Singapore, it:
- Has the widest 5G coverage and leads on several mobile experience metrics, according to OpenSignal’s 2025 report. [48]
- Competes against StarHub, M1, TPG and multiple mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs), creating a fragmented market with more than ten players if you include internet service providers and MVNOs. [49]
At the November briefing, CEO Yuen suggested that 2–3 network operators would be a more sustainable market structure and indicated Singtel’s support for consolidation in principle – though any specific combination would depend on regulators. [50]
Consolidation could be a medium‑term catalyst: fewer players usually mean healthier pricing power and returns, but also regulatory scrutiny.
Key risks and what to watch next
1. Optus regulatory and operational overhang
- Potential fines and mandated remedial investments from the September emergency‑services outage and subsequent incidents could pressure Optus’ returns. [51]
- Reputational damage could spur higher churn, forcing Optus to spend more on customer acquisition and retention.
2. Execution risk in data centres and AI infrastructure
- The data‑centre push – including DC Tuas and a possible STT GDC deal – is capital‑intensive. Overpaying for assets, mispricing power contracts, or delays in AI workload demand could crimp returns. [52]
3. Macro and FX exposure
- A meaningful slice of Singtel’s earnings comes from associates in India, Indonesia and Thailand. A strong Singapore dollar – one scenario in Citi’s bear case – would translate foreign profits into fewer SGD, compressing earnings per share even if local‑currency profits do fine. [53]
4. Valuation and expectations
- After a run from below S$3.10 in late 2024 to a S$4.92 high in November 2025, a lot of good news is arguably in the price. [54]
- If earnings growth or asset‑recycling deals disappoint, a de‑rating could be sharp given the current “Strong Buy” consensus.
Bottom line: how Singtel stock looks on 9 December 2025
Putting it all together:
- Fundamentals: Underlying profits are growing at mid‑teens rates, Optus is improving operationally (outages aside), and NCS plus associates are firing. [55]
- Capital story: Singtel is recycling billions from Airtel and other non‑core assets into higher‑growth digital infrastructure while simultaneously funding rising dividends and buybacks. [56]
- Growth optionality: 5G+, network slicing, Nxera data centres and RE:AI give Singtel embedded exposure to AI and cloud infrastructure demand across Asia. [57]
- Risks: Optus remains a structurally messy asset, and execution risk in both the Australian turnaround and the data‑centre build‑out is non‑trivial.
On balance, the market is treating Singtel as a defensive income stock with genuine growth legs rather than a sleepy utility. Most brokers see high single‑digit to low‑teens upside from today’s price, but the range of fair‑value estimates shows that reasonable people can disagree on how much of the digital‑infra story is already priced in.
References
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