Singapore (Reuters): SingTel reported a 1.6 per cent fall in second-quarter net profit on Wednesday, partly dragged down by higher costs.

Southeast Asia's largest telecommunications firm had net profit of $868 million for the three months ended in September, down from $882 million a year earlier.

Underlying net profit was $886 million.

That was below the $896 million average forecast based on a Reuters poll of six analysts.