The nation’s three major telecom services providers yesterday released a mixed picture of first-quarter earnings, amid a bleak economy, a saturated mobile market and falling prices.
Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), the nation’s largest telecom operator, said first-quarter net income edged up 0.6 percent year-on-year as profits from unwinding an unprofitable currency contract were offset by higher employee expenses.
Net profit rose to NT$10.8 billion (US$319 million), or NT$1.11 per share, in the first quarter, from NT$10.7 billion a year earlier, the company said in a statement. Revenue for the first three months fell 3.3 percent year-on-year to NT$45.2 billion.
The company also announced a change in accounting, with employee bonus expenses being recognized on a monthly basis instead of annually, company spokeswoman Shen Fu-fu (沈馥馥) said. This resulted in higher expenses for the period, she said.
Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大), the nation’s second-biggest telecom operator, reported a drop of 22.2 percent in first-quarter profit to NT$3.26 billion, or NT$1.10 a share, from a year earlier. Revenues fell about 2 percent to NT$17.25 billion.
Net income last month dipped 1.8 percent year-on-year to NT$1.08 billion, or NT$0.37 per share, and revenues dropped 2.2 percent to NT$5.67 billion as the economic downturn affected demand.
Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信), meanwhile, earned NT$2.3 billion in the first three months of the year and made NT$14.88 billion in revenues. It did not provide comparative figures.
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