Singtel Stock (SGX: Z74) News on 18 Dec 2025: Optus Outage Review, Dividend Support, Buyback Momentum, and Analyst Price Targets

Singapore Telecommunications Limited (Singtel) is back in the market spotlight on 18 December 2025, as investors weigh a fresh round of negative headlines around its Australian unit Optus against a steadier (and improving) core financial picture: rising underlying profit, a bigger interim dividend, ongoing share buybacks, and continued asset-recycling moves that have strengthened the balance sheet.

Singtel shares were recently indicated around S$4.52 with a previous close around S$4.55, and a day range near S$4.52 to S$4.61 (figures vary by venue and time). ^[1]

Below is what matters most for Singtel stock right now—today’s news flow, the company’s latest guidance, the market’s consensus forecasts, and the key catalysts (and risks) investors are tracking into FY2026.

What’s driving Singtel stock today: Optus’ independent outage review lands

The biggest Singtel-related news today is out of Australia: Optus has released the findings of an independent review into its 18 September outage that disrupted Triple Zero (000) emergency calls—and the report’s conclusions are blunt.

According to coverage of the review, it found gaps in process, accountability, escalation, and information protocols, and it flagged cultural challenges that affected decision-making and response times. Optus’ board has accepted all 21 recommendations and said it will move quickly on implementation. ^[2]

What the review said about the outage mechanics

Reporting on the review indicates the Triple Zero disruption stemmed from mistakes during planning and implementation of a firewall upgrade, which led to Triple Zero calls being disconnected shortly after midnight, with services restored only more than 14 hours later. ^[3]

The review also described a delayed operational response: Optus reportedly failed to recognise the problem for around 13 hours, despite earlier alerts and customer contact-centre reports. ^[4]

One particularly market-sensitive detail: the review cited that only 150 of 605 attempted emergency calls were successfully connected, implying roughly three-quarters failed—despite expectations that emergency calls should divert to other networks during failures. ^[5]

Why this matters to Singtel shareholders

Optus is not a small satellite operation inside Singtel—it’s a material operating company and (in good periods) a meaningful earnings contributor. So when Optus faces crisis-level scrutiny, investors typically focus on three spillovers into Singtel stock:

Regulatory and legal risk (fines, enforceable undertakings, remediation costs, and potential restrictions)
Higher operating and capital spending (network resilience upgrades, monitoring systems, incident response capability)
Brand and customer churn risk (pressure on margins and revenue trajectory)

Singtel investors are also watching whether Australian political pressure escalates beyond operational remediation into structural remedies (for example, tougher requirements on emergency-call routing and monitoring).

Another regulatory reminder: Singtel fined in Singapore over a prior voice outage

This week’s Singtel news flow also includes a Singapore regulatory development: the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) imposed a S$1 million fine on Singtel over an Oct 8, 2024 fixed voice disruption that affected about 500,000 residential and corporate users for more than four hours, including disruption to access for some services and emergency call services. Singtel said it accepted the ruling and penalty. ^[6]

For investors, the significance isn’t the absolute dollar figure (S$1 million is not existential for a group this size). It’s the reminder that telecom resilience and incident management are now core regulatory issues—in both Singapore and Australia—at a time when Singtel’s equity story increasingly leans on “stability + returns of capital”.

Singtel fundamentals: the company’s latest earnings and FY2026 outlook

While Optus headlines dominate the daily narrative, Singtel’s most recent financial disclosures still show a company with improving momentum.

H1 FY26 highlights (half-year ended 30 September 2025)

In its H1 FY26 announcement, Singtel reported:

Underlying net profit up 14% to S$1.35 billion
Reported net profit S$3.40 billion, boosted by net exceptional gains of S$2.05 billion
Group revenue S$6.91 billion
EBITDA S$1.982 billion
Free cash flow S$1.446 billion ^[7]

Management also pointed to diversified contributions, citing strength from regional associates and operating companies, and explicitly noted that while the macro outlook remains challenging, diversification helps stability. ^[8]

What Singtel said about Optus performance (before the outage costs fully play out)

In the same H1 FY26 materials, Singtel disclosed that Optus:

Saw operating revenue up 2%
Had EBIT up 27%, “mainly from mobile growth”
Benefited from postpaid growth and revenue from a regional network-sharing agreement, alongside higher fixed wireless revenues ^[9]

But Singtel also acknowledged that Optus experienced a serious outage affecting emergency services in September, and that investigations were ongoing. ^[10]

FY2026 guidance: higher range, but with an Australia caveat

Singtel revised its FY2026 outlook for operating company EBIT growth (OpCo EBIT) to a wider band between high single digits and low double digits, explicitly taking into account strong first-half growth and uncertainty in Australia after the outage. ^[11]

It also guided that dividends from regional associates are expected to be S$1.1 billion (up from S$1.0 billion). ^[12]

And it reiterated other guidance elements previously issued in May 2025, including:

Cost savings ~S$200 million in Singtel Singapore and Optus
Total capex around S$2.5 billion, with core capex about S$1.7 billion (including Optus and the rest of the group), plus further investment into data centres/AI/digitalisation and satellites ^[13]

Dividend focus: Singtel raises interim payout, splits it into “core” and “value realisation”

For many investors, Singtel is owned less as a “shoot-the-lights-out growth” stock and more as a dividend + capital return compounder—particularly when earnings are supported by a portfolio of associates and a capital recycling strategy.

Interim dividend lifted again

For the half-year ended 30 September 2025, Singtel approved an interim ordinary dividend of 8.2 cents per share, up 17% year-on-year.

Importantly, Singtel spelled out the composition:

6.4 cents core dividend
1.8 cents value realisation dividend ^[14]

That “value realisation” label is key, because it ties directly to Singtel’s asset recycling strategy (selling stakes, monetising assets, returning excess capital).

Buybacks: Singtel’s programme is active, and the company has been buying in size

Singtel’s capital return strategy isn’t just dividends. The group has also built a formal buyback channel.

The S$2 billion “value realisation” share buyback programme

Singtel previously announced a share buyback programme of up to S$2 billion, designed as part of its active capital management strategy and supported by asset recycling proceeds. It indicated the programme would run over three years until FY2028, purchasing shares in the open market for subsequent cancellation, subject to conditions and approvals. ^[15]

Recent daily buyback disclosures (early December 2025)

Company filings on SGX show Singtel buying back shares on multiple days in early December. For example:

1 Dec 2025: 2,500,000 shares bought; prices between S$4.70 and S$4.73; total consideration about S$11.82 million ^[16]
2 Dec 2025: 1,930,600 shares bought; S$4.68 to S$4.70; total consideration about S$9.06 million ^[17]
3 Dec 2025: 2,741,900 shares bought; S$4.70 to S$4.73; total consideration about S$12.93 million ^[18]

These aren’t “symbolic” buybacks. They’re meaningful daily tickets that can provide incremental price support—especially during headline-driven drawdowns—though they also signal management sees value at those levels.

Asset recycling: Singtel sells Bharti Airtel stake, keeps a large strategic position

Singtel’s asset recycling strategy is one of the market’s core “quality rerating” narratives for the stock: monetise mature holdings, fund digital infrastructure, and return surplus capital to shareholders through dividends and buybacks.

November 2025: Singtel sells ~0.8% of Bharti Airtel, unlocks S$1.5 billion

In early November, Singtel disclosed it sold approximately 0.8% of its direct stake in regional associate Airtel, unlocking S$1.5 billion, with an estimated gain of S$1.1 billion. After the transaction, Singtel said it would hold a 27.5% stake in Airtel, valued at an estimated S$51 billion. ^[19]

Reuters also reported the transaction as part of Singtel’s broader asset recycling program. ^[20]

Digital infrastructure: Nxera growth ambitions and the STT GDC deal watch

Singtel’s “new Singtel” narrative is increasingly tied to digital infrastructure—data centres, AI cloud capacity, and enterprise digital services—rather than purely consumer mobile economics.

Nxera: targeted >20% EBITDA compound annual growth

Singtel has said its digital infrastructure arm Nxera is expected to achieve more than 20% compound annual EBITDA growth over the next four years as it adds operational data centre capacity. ^[21]

Deal watch: ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (STT GDC)

A separate (and potentially large) catalyst investors are tracking is the data centre M&A front. Reuters reported in November that KKR and Singtel were in advanced talks to buy more than 80% of ST Telemedia Global Data Centres to obtain full ownership, in a deal valued at over S$5 billion, with timing potentially by year-end (terms subject to change). ^[22]

Whether or not that specific deal closes as described, it underlines the broader point: data centre assets are central to Singtel’s next phase, and large transactions can reframe valuation discussions.

Analyst forecasts for Singtel stock: consensus “Buy” with targets around S$5.19–S$5.21

Against today’s Optus risk headlines, analyst forecasts are—so far—still broadly constructive.

Consensus target prices

Multiple market-data aggregators show Singtel’s consensus target price around the low S$5.20s:

Investing.com lists an average 12‑month target around S$5.192, with a high estimate S$6.20 and low estimate S$4.36, and a consensus rating of “Buy” based on its analyst set. ^[23]
MarketScreener shows a similar average target price near S$5.192 versus a last close around S$4.55, implying roughly mid‑teens upside. ^[24]
Growbeansprout reports a consensus target of about S$5.21 as of 18 Dec 2025, framing roughly ~14% upside off a mid‑S$4.5 share price. ^[25]

Why targets differ

Broker targets aren’t a single “truth”. They move with:

Optus risk assumptions (penalties, remediation cost, churn, capex)
FX assumptions (Singtel’s reporting is sensitive to currency translation)
Valuation multiples applied to Nxera/data centre exposure and enterprise services
The pace and sustainability of capital returns (dividends + buybacks)

SG-focused compilations of broker targets also show a spread: recent price targets across institutions range roughly from the high S$4s to mid S$5s, reflecting differences in how analysts price in Australia’s uncertainty. ^[26]

The big question for Singtel investors: is Optus a temporary shock—or a structural discount?

Here’s the tension at the heart of Singtel’s December 2025 setup:

On one side, Singtel is executing a capital return + portfolio optimisation playbook: higher dividends, active buybacks, monetising stakes, and reallocating towards digital infrastructure. ^[27]
On the other side, Optus is dealing with repeat credibility and resilience scrutiny around emergency call failures—arguably the harshest possible category of telco failure—where regulatory consequences can be unpredictable and reputational damage can linger. ^[28]

Some market chatter has even drifted toward the “could Singtel exit Australia?” narrative. An Australian newspaper report suggested Macquarie-owned Vocus may be considering an Optus deal, amid talk Singtel could be reassessing its position (Singtel has not, based on the sources above, confirmed a transaction). ^[29]

For stockholders, that’s not just gossip: any credible shift toward an Optus divestment (full or partial) could materially reshape the Singtel equity story—either by removing a risk discount or by forcing price discovery at an inconvenient time.

What to watch next for Singtel stock (late Dec 2025 into 2026)

The next catalysts are fairly clear—and unusually “binary” for a large telco:

Optus remediation milestones and regulator reactions
Investors will watch how quickly Optus implements the 21 recommendations, and whether regulators impose further penalties or binding operational requirements. ^[30]
Capital return pace
Continued buyback disclosures and future dividend decisions will be read as a signal of confidence in free cash flow resilience. ^[31]
Further asset recycling
The Airtel stake sale reinforces that Singtel is willing to monetise even prized holdings when pricing is favourable—investors will watch for the next move and how proceeds are allocated. ^[32]
Digital infrastructure scaling and M&A
Any clarity on the STT GDC situation (or alternative data-centre capacity additions) could affect how the market values the “Nxera-led” growth narrative. ^[33]

Singtel is trying to be two things at once: a steady, shareholder-returning “utility-like” telco and a higher-multiple digital infrastructure platform. The market is currently pricing both—while also subtracting for Optus execution risk. December’s news makes that subtraction feel very real. ^[34]

References

Hongkong Land Holdings Limited Stock (SGX: H78) Today: S$8B Singapore Fund, Buybacks, and Analyst Forecasts (Dec. 18, 2025)

Singapore Stock Market Today (18 Dec 2025): STI Slips as Global Tech Jitters, Central Bank Risk and Singtel-Optus Headlines Shape SGX Mood

DBS Group Holdings Stock (SGX: D05) Near Record Highs as RMB Clearing Role, Fintech Tie-Ups and Capital Returns Keep Bulls Engaged