Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (
Net income will probably rise to NT$6.5 billion (US$189 million), or NT$3.44 a share, from NT$4 billion, or NT$3.27, a year ago, the company said. Sales are expected to increase to NT$34.5 billion from NT$32.2 billion.
The company is closing in on those targets. From January through October, profit reached NT$5.54 billion, or NT$2.93 per share, while sales reached NT$29.4 billion.
Still, with every Taiwanese having at least one mobile phone, Far EasTone needs to cut costs to bolster income next year as its average revenue per subscriber fell 27 percent this year to NT$770 a month.
Mobile-phone charges are dropping and the saturated market means more people from lower income groups are using mobile phones, driving down the average revenue per subscriber.
"Growth will come from our existing customers using our new and innovative services," said FarEasTone President Joseph O'Konek at a news conference.
The company raised NT$310 million this month in an initial public offering. Far EasTone sold 9 million shares at NT$31 a share to local institutional and individual investors.
Foreign investors were barred from the share sale. The stock will begin trading on the Taiwan OTC Exchange Dec. 10.
O'Konek said he expects Far EasTone next year to spend less than the NT$13 billion it will spend this year on technology and operations. He said the company won't have to raise more money for so-called third-generation mobile-phone licenses.
Third-generation, or 3G, services are designed for high-speed data transmissions that enable video, photographs and music to be transmitted via mobile phones. Taiwan will issue five 3G licenses.
The Far Eastern Group (
The shares of Far Eastern Textile, in which the Hsu family is the biggest shareholder, yesterday fell NT$0.75, or 6 percent, to NT$11.70.
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