Singtel unveils plans to grow digital business

Singtel has plans to sharpen its focus on three key areas of its digital business to "accelerate its transformation for growth and competitiveness". The local telco identified digital marketing, regional premium video services and advanced analytics as its main areas of growth.This initiative will be led by Samba Natarajan who has been recently promoted to CEO Group Digital Life. Natarajan is responsible for the Group’s digital portfolio, including Amobee, HOOQ, DataSpark and Innov8. Natarajan was last managing director of Digital Enterprise.Under Natatajan’s leadership, Group Digital Life will execute these initiatives with a focus to gain scale and profitability. This will be led by Amobee in the digital marketing space which nearly triple its revenue in last fiscal year which ended on 31 March 2015 with its investments in Adconion and Kontera.Amobee also introduced Brand Intelligence in Singapore in June this year. Brand Intelligence is  a proprietary and patented technology that analyses online content and sentiment to help brands effectively reach their target audience. Revenue from Amobee Group is projected to be SG$350-SG$400 million for the 2015 fiscal year, according to the report.Meanwhile, online video streaming service HOOQ will target consumers with video content in close collaboration with the regional mobile associates and analytics and intelligence solutions service DataSpark will deliver analytics solutions focused on geospatial insights for the telco and public sectors.The move comes as Singapore Telecommunications Limited (Singtel) reported a strong fourth quarter with net profit up 5% to SG$939 million. According to the report, these results reflected the underlying strength and resilience of its core business and startup losses in business transformation. It also said that The Group and its associates “successfully captured the strong growth in mobile data services, with strategic investments in networks, distribution, customer initiatives and support.”Chua Sock Koong, Singtel Group CEO said: "Our unique telco assets put us in the right place to seize opportunities in today’s digital age as these services become integral in our day-to-day lives[...]This quarter’s performance underscores the strong execution of our core business. We have taken bold measures in the face of industry challenges. We aspire to be a significant global player in cyber security and our acquisition of Trustwave augments our organic initiatives."In its core business, Singtel plans to drive profitable revenue growth, build scale and a competitive cost structure in delivering its brand promise. These will be underpinned by strategic investments in networks, systems, technologies and talent.Most recently, Singtel Advertising, a media platform under Group Consumer, has appointed Melvin Yong as new director of advertising sales.