Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大) yesterday retained its top position as the nation’s most profitable telecom with earnings per share (EPS) of NT$0.46 for last month, beating bigger rival Chunghwa Telecom Co’s (中華電信) NT$0.42 and Far EasTone Telecommunications Co’s (遠傳電信) NT$0.26.
The nation’s second-biggest telecom said net profit last month shrank 3.3 percent year-on-year to NT$1.24 billion (US$41.51 million).
The decline was the smallest annual contraction in seven months as growth in value-added mobile service usage and e-commerce transactions helped support revenue by 5.8 percent to NT$9.55 billion, spokesperson Rosie Yu (余若奚) said in a statement.
Taiwan Mobile made NT$4.72 billion in net profit for the first four months of the year, or NT$1.74 per share, achieving 35 percent of its full year forecast of NT$13.6 billion, or NT$5 a share, Yu said.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization climbed 6 percent last month, excluding the implementation of new accounting rules, she said.
Chunghwa Telecom reported net profit dropped 4.4 percent to NT$3.25 billion, compared with NT$3.8 billion a year earlier.
For the first four months of the year accumulated earnings were NT$1.55 per share, it said.
Revenue last month fell 4.5 percent to NT$17.3 billion from NT$18.55 billion in April last year, while overall mobile service revenue fell 3.59 percent year-on-year, it said.
Far EasTone reported net profit of NT$859 million for last month, bringing its earnings for the first four months of this year to NT$1.02 per share. It did not provide figures for comparison.
Revenue rose 1.02 percent to NT$7.28 billion, from NT$7.21 billion in April last year, it told the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
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