Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), the nation’s top telecoms operator, yesterday said net profits totaled NT$11.92 billion (US$393 million) in the third quarter as asset gains offset rising operating costs.
Third-quarter net profits fell 0.25 percent from a year earlier and shrank 7.81 percent from the second quarter, the company said in a statement.
In the third quarter, revenues grew 4.7 percent year-on-year to NT$49.04 billion, but operating costs increased 10.39 percent to NT$36.21 billion during the same period mainly because of “rising marketing spending for smartphones and third-generation handsets,” the company said.
Gains from the company’s construction subsidiary and the sale of a piece of land to the Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp (台灣證交所), along with a lower tax rate, helped offset the rise in operating costs, it said.
In the first nine months, pre-tax profits totaled NT$43.55 billion, reaching 80 percent of Chunghwa Telecom’s full-year forecast of NT$54.43 billion, according to the statement.
Far EasTone Telecommunications Co Ltd (遠傳電信), the nation’s third-largest telecoms operator, yesterday said net profits stood at NT$808 million last month, bringing the company’s net profits in the July-to-September quarter to NT$2.44 billion, well above the company’s earlier forecast of NT$2.2 billion.
Third-quarter net income rose 3.39 percent from the same period last year.
The nation’s No. 2 phone company, Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大), yesterday said net profits stood at NT$1.38 billion last month, bringing its third-quarter net income to NT$3.39 billion, helped by strong demand for its wireless data services and its TV shopping business.
Taiwan Mobile owns a 51 percent stake in Fubon Multimedia Technology Co Ltd (富邦媒體科技), which operates the nation’s second-most popular TV shopping channel, MoMo TV.
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