Amid a constant decline in voice traffic, Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) reported a 9.06 percent annual decline in net profit for last quarter to NT$8.73 billion (US$299 million), lagging behind its profit target for the full year.
Monthly profit deteriorated to NT$2.69 billion last month, down 9.73 percent from February.
The nation’s biggest telecom has set a target of net profit growth of between 0.9 percent and 8.8 percent year-on-year to between NT$47.17 billion and NT$50.84 billion this year. That means the company would have to make at least NT$11.79 billion each quarter to meet its target.
Revenue and net profit “fell slightly short of the company’s forecasts,” Chunghwa Telecom said.
Revenue shrank 1.65 percent to NT$53.64 billion last quarter, compared with NT$54.54 billion during the same period last year. The company would have to make at least NT$57.87 billion in sales each quarter to meet its full-year target of between NT$231.47 billion and NT$232.97 billion.
As of the end of last month, Chunghwa Telecom had 8.48 million mobile users.
The company said that its Internet TV services, or multimedia-on-demand, subscriber numbers increased to 1.7 million households, on track to hit its target of 2 million users this year.
Rivals Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大) and Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信) also saw their earnings drop more than 12 percent year-on-year in the first quarter.
Taiwan Mobile posted a 12.1 percent fall in net profit to NT$3.48 billion from NT$3.96 billion a year ago.
Earnings per share slid to NT$1.28 from NT$1.46.
Despite the drop, quarterly earnings were still on track to meet its full-year target of NT$13.6 billion, or NT$3.4 billion per quarter.
Revenue last quarter rose 5 percent year-on-year to NT$30.31 billion last quarter, in line with the company’s full-year revenue target of NT$123.14 billion.
Far EasTone saw its net profit drop 13.73 percent year-on-year to NT$2.45 billion last quarter.
Earnings per share fell to NT$0.75 from NT$0.87.
Last quarter’s net profit was lagging behind the company’s full-year forecast of NT$10.42 billion, or NT$2.65 billion per quarter.
Revenue shrank 3.65 percent annually to NT$21.67 billion from NT$22.49 billion, lagging behind the company’s full-year forecast of NT$89.89 billion, or NT$22.47 billion each quarter.
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