Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel) reported a 12 per cent rise in annual underlying profit on Thursday (May 21), driven by strong contributions from India's Bharti Airtel and other regional associates.Post-tax profit contributions from regional associates, including Airtel, Thailand's Advanced Info Service (AIS) and Indonesia's Telkomsel, rose 11 per cent to S$1.96 billion (US$1.53 billion).Singtel unit Optus' operating revenue increased by 2 per cent, driven by postpaid price rises and higher revenue from a regional network-sharing arrangement."Our regional associates Airtel and AIS were standout performers, delivering solid contributions to the Group," Group Chief Executive Officer Yuen Kuan Moon said.The group declared a final dividend of 10.3 Singapore cents per share, higher than the 10 Singapore cents apiece announced last year.Southeast Asia's largest telecom operator said underlying net profit was S$2.77 billion for the year ended March 2026, compared with S$2.47 billion in the previous year.That missed the Visible Alpha consensus estimate of S$2.82 billion.