Tuesday February 2, 2010
Docomo’s net profit jumps 48%
01 February 2010 – NTT Docomo - Japan’s largest mobile operator - saw its group net profit for the fiscal third quarter surge 48 percent from a year earlier despite a 1.3 percent fall in revenue. Thanks to earlier-than-expected amortisation in its 2G business (the operator ended sales of 2G devices in November 2008), net profit for the three months ended December rose to JPY135 billion (US$1.5 billion) from JPY91 billion. Operating profit rose 28 percent to JPY217.4 billion, but revenue dropped to JPY1.097 trillion due to a continued slump in revenue from telephone calls and a falloff in sales of mobile handsets. For the full fiscal year through March, the company continues to expect a group net profit of JPY493 billion, with an operating profit of JPY830 billion and revenue of JPY4.276 trillion.
Meanwhile, reports today suggest the operator will use this month’s GSMA Mobile World Congress to unveil a prototype LTE handset. The operator is set to launch commercial LTE networks in December. In separate Docomo news, Dow Jones Newswires notes that the Japanese operator is considering selling SIM cards for Apple’s new iPad tablet computer, a move that would make the carrier the first major operator in Japan to sell SIM cards that are not bundled with handsets. Such a move would bring Japan in line with other countries, where such cards can be switched freely between different operators’ mobile phones. ♠ JC
Source: GSMA
