UPDATE 2-SingTel eyes opportunities in Africa to boost growth

* Eyes untapped markets in Africa

* Q2 underlying net profit S$952 mln; consensus S$956 mln

* Singapore, Australia EBITDA to grow at low-single-digit

* Stock up 1 pct; gains 16 pct in 2009, lags market (Recasts lead with strategy, details on margins)

By Harry Suhartono

SINGAPORE, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Singapore Telecommunications, Southeast Asia's top telecom firm, plans to muscle into the fast-growing markets of Africa to grow further after it gave a cautious outlook for its core Singapore and Australian markets.

SingTel said on Wednesday it would either look at options in Africa on its own or support its partners such as Bharti Airtel (BRTI.BO) in their quest for telecom assets.

SingTel had supported a bid by India's Bharti Airtel to buy South Africa's MTN (MTNJ.J), a deal that collapsed in October on political instead of commercial issues. [ID:nLU010353]

"Africa is a market in the emerging mobile space, that is definitely worth our interest, and we are always talking to our associates," SingTel CEO Chua Sock Koong told a news conference.