ID :
14526
Fri, 08/01/2008 - 10:12
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Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/14526
The shortlink copeid
NTT Docomo's first quarter net profit jumps 41%
TOKYO, July 30 Kyodo - NTT Docomo Inc., Japan's top mobile phone carrier, said Wednesday its group net profit for the April-June quarter surged 41.3 percent from a year earlier to 173.51 billion yen, thanks to slashed sales incentives on handsets.
In a consolidated earnings report for the first quarter of fiscal 2008, the Tokyo-based firm said its operating profit rose 45.4 percent to 296.49 billion yen on revenue of 1.17 trillion yen, down 1.1 percent.
The profit growth was largely due to the introduction in November of an installment payment plan for the purchase of handsets, which cut sales incentives provided by NTT Docomo to retailers, the firm said.
During the three-month period, however, handset sales dropped to 4,946,000 units from 6,238,000 units in the corresponding period a year earlier, when sales were boosted by the firm's aggressive sales campaign featuring zero-yen handsets.
Reflecting a fall in the ratio of contract cancellations, the number of NTT Docomo subscribers went up by 0.5 percent to 53,629,000 as of the end of June, meaning the company held a share of around 50 percent in the Japanese mobile phone market.
''The first quarter was basically on a good note,'' President Ryuji Yamada told reporters. He said the spread of installment payment plans helped to boost the firm's earnings.
He said that a slowdown in the economy contributed to the fall in handset sales and while likely to weigh on the company for the time being, any decline in sales is likely to be milder.
The company maintained its earnings outlook for the whole of fiscal 2008, including a slight increase in profit.
It is anticipating that group net profit in the current business year will rise 2.4 percent from the previous year to 503 billion yen and that operating profit will increase 2.7 percent to 830 billion yen on revenue of 4.77 trillion yen, up 1.2 percent.
Earlier this month, NTT Docomo adopted a new logo and a slogan vowing a stronger customer commitment to better compete with Softbank Mobile Corp. and KDDI Corp.
As for Apple Inc.'s iPhone 3G smartphone, launched exclusively in Japan by Softbank Mobile earlier this month, Yamada said, ''So far, we don't have the feeling that a big number of our customers shifted to iPhone. It appears that many want the iPhone as a second handset.''NTT Docomo's earnings results are based on U.S. accounting standards.
In a consolidated earnings report for the first quarter of fiscal 2008, the Tokyo-based firm said its operating profit rose 45.4 percent to 296.49 billion yen on revenue of 1.17 trillion yen, down 1.1 percent.
The profit growth was largely due to the introduction in November of an installment payment plan for the purchase of handsets, which cut sales incentives provided by NTT Docomo to retailers, the firm said.
During the three-month period, however, handset sales dropped to 4,946,000 units from 6,238,000 units in the corresponding period a year earlier, when sales were boosted by the firm's aggressive sales campaign featuring zero-yen handsets.
Reflecting a fall in the ratio of contract cancellations, the number of NTT Docomo subscribers went up by 0.5 percent to 53,629,000 as of the end of June, meaning the company held a share of around 50 percent in the Japanese mobile phone market.
''The first quarter was basically on a good note,'' President Ryuji Yamada told reporters. He said the spread of installment payment plans helped to boost the firm's earnings.
He said that a slowdown in the economy contributed to the fall in handset sales and while likely to weigh on the company for the time being, any decline in sales is likely to be milder.
The company maintained its earnings outlook for the whole of fiscal 2008, including a slight increase in profit.
It is anticipating that group net profit in the current business year will rise 2.4 percent from the previous year to 503 billion yen and that operating profit will increase 2.7 percent to 830 billion yen on revenue of 4.77 trillion yen, up 1.2 percent.
Earlier this month, NTT Docomo adopted a new logo and a slogan vowing a stronger customer commitment to better compete with Softbank Mobile Corp. and KDDI Corp.
As for Apple Inc.'s iPhone 3G smartphone, launched exclusively in Japan by Softbank Mobile earlier this month, Yamada said, ''So far, we don't have the feeling that a big number of our customers shifted to iPhone. It appears that many want the iPhone as a second handset.''NTT Docomo's earnings results are based on U.S. accounting standards.
