KDDI profit dips 2.5%

Japan’s second-largest operator, KDDI, has announced that its fiscal Q3 net profit fell 2.5% due to lower voice revenue and higher promotion costs.

KDDI, which had 32.53 million subscribers at end December, said net profit for Q3 last year fell to 65.67 billion yen ($795.4 million) from 67.35 billion yen year-on-year.

Revenue declined 1% to 853.42 billion yen from 862.22 billion yen over the same period, while operating profit fell 1.3% to 124.9 billion yen from 125.83 billion yen.

KDDI’s mainstay mobile business reported an 18% fall in operating profit with a 2.5% decline in revenue. ARPU fell 9% to 4,980 yen while revenue from voice calls fell 17%.

KDDI president Takashi Tanaka hinted the firm was pinning its hopes on the smartphone boom in Japan, after making a late entry last year into the segment dominated by rival Softbank’s retail of the iPhonetheWall Street Journalreported.

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