Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel) reported a rise of 10.1% in net profit from $ 868 million last year to $ 956 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2009.

Revenues too increased from $ 3.89 billion to $ 4.1 billion on a yoy basis.

"Our strong financial results were achieved amid a cautious economic climate and despite the negative currency impact," said CEO, Chua Sock Koong.

EBITDA rose 31.1% % to $ 571 million mainly due to strong contribution from Indonesia’s PT Telkomsel and Bharti Airtel of India.

The company is now looking for investment opportunities across the globe particularly in Asia and is banking on its strong financial status to execute such plans. "Markets like Vietnam continue to present a potential opportunity," Lim said. "We continue to track the other areas where we currently don't have a presence, but at least at the present moment there are no specific countries (being targeted)."

Singtel however remained cautious on future outlook and said it expects single digit growth from Singapore and Australia operations.

SingTel’s JV include Bharti, Telkomsel, Thailand's Advanced Info Service, Pakistan's Warid Telecom, the Philippines' Globe Telecom and Pacific Bangladesh Telecom. The company operates in Singapore and in Australia through its unit, Optus.