Optus chief executive Paul O'Sullivan over the weekend said no decision had been made within parent Singapore Telecommunications to float the Australian subsidiary as a separate company.
Paul O'Sullivan, Optus CEO
(Credit: Optus)
O'Sullivan said the topic of an initial public offer (IPO) for Optus was a side issue. "It's really flattering when you have strong momentum and people are instantly speculating that you should be taking an IPO to market," he said in an interview with the ABC's Inside Business program on Sunday.
"But we were pretty clear at the result session. We've made no decision to do an IPO of the Australian business."
Optus last week posted a 22 per cent rise in second quarter net profit, with continued strength in mobile phone and broadband revenues. Parent SingTel reported 10 per cent profit growth.
O'Sullivan said Australian investors could already take advantage of the Optus and SingTel growth story by buying locally traded SingTel shares. SingTel shares closed at $2.28 on Friday, near the 12-month low $2.26 close on November 5.
That NBN
O'Sullivan also said the government's National
Broadband Network (NBN) would be commercially viable and his company
would be investing in it.
"We think the benefits to Australians from the new fibre to the home network are really extensive," O'Sullivan said. "Absolutely it will be viable. We've been willing to commit to investing in an NBN ... and show how this can be a good investment."
David Thodey, the chief executive of Telstra, the country's biggest telco, said last month it would not be viable for his company to construct a national fibre to the home network.
But Thodey also said it could be worthwhile for the government, which has considerations other than commercial returns, to do so.
O'Sullivan said the new network needed to be made as soon as possible, as it would give Optus and other telcos the chance to compete with Telstra on an equal basis in the residential fixed-line market.
"The NBN's a terrific opportunity not only for us but for all the players in telecoms to finally get a chance to compete on a level playing field in the residential home market," he said.
"The high bandwidth that goes into homes will offer a whole range of services and it will also mean that we can converge what you do in your home ... with what you do on your mobile device."
If Optus had an IPO and was sold on the ASX separate to Singtel then what would Sydney Lawrence have to argue about anymore. Optus would then be an Australian company with Australia pubic shareholders, the argument of Australians owning Telstra shares and how it would affect them would be null and void.
No Optus, don't do it, don't let Sydney Lawrences plight be in vain.
/sarcasm off