SingTel says worst over, recovery pace uncertain

SINGAPORE Aug 13 (Reuters) - Singapore Telecommunications (STEL.SI), Southeast Asia's biggest telco, said on Thursday the worst of the global economic crisis was over but the pace of recovery was still uncertain.

"We are quite comfortable that the worst is over," CEO Chua Sock Koong said at a briefing on the firm's fiscal first quarter earnings.

"How quickly the recovery will be and whether it is sustainable or not, it is something that we are still monitoring," she added.

SingTel, which owns Optus in Australia and stakes in mobile phone companies across the region, earlier on Thursday reported a lower-than-expected 10.3 percent rise in underlying net profit. (Reporting by Harry Suhartono, writing by Kevin Lim; editing by Neil Chatterjee)