Telenor, Softbank and Du report revenue and profit growth

Mobile operators Telenor, Softbank and Du have posted their financial earnings reports, each reporting a growth in revenue and profit.

Japan’s Softbank generated a 73 per cent year on year increase on sales in 1H13 to reach ¥2.6tn  ($26.5bn) and what it said is a record six month profit of ¥394.9bn, marking an 84 per cent year on year increase on 1H12.

The firm’s acquisition of US operator Sprint boosted sales, and accounted for ¥0.8tn of revenue. The company also saw revenue rising domestically thanks to increased subscriber growth, and consolidation of three former subsidiaries.

In 3Q13, Norwegian operator group Telenor reported revenues of NOK26.0bn ($4.4bn), up one per cent year on year from NOK25.3bn in 3Q12. The firm reported net income of NOK3.9bn, up marginally year on year from NOK3.6bn in 3Q12.

“Telenor Group’s performance this quarter is proof of a sound business with solid earnings and margins,” said Jon Fredrik Baksaas, President and CEO of Telenor Group.

He stressed the importance of Telenor to provide internet access for all, noting that only around one out of four of Telenor’s customers in Asia currently have access to the internet, representing a vast potential for our future growth.

“During this quarter, subscription and traffic revenues in Asia increased by nine per cent, continuing its healthy trend. In Thailand and Malaysia, where the internet is already the main growth driver, we added 240,000 and 279,000 customers, respectively. Earlier this month Grameenphone launched 3G services to customers in central parts of the city of Dhaka, marking the start of a nationwide network roll-out,’’ added Baksaas.

During the quarter, the firm also saw continued improvement in Sweden although revenue development in Norway is weaker than expected, the firm conceded.

The firm added that in order to secure healthy return on its high network investments, it needs to further optimise data centric offers to stimulate demand for mobile data.

“As a consequence of continued challenging market conditions in Denmark, we are now embarking upon an ambitious transformation programme which will run through 2014,” said Baksaas. “Globul in Bulgaria was included in the Telenor Group as of August. In Myanmar, we are expecting to finalise the licence later this year with the aim of launching services in mid-2014.”

Telenor has now revised the outlook for organic revenue growth to one to two per cent and capex to sales to 13 to 14 per cent.

UAE operator Du also saw an increase in revenue in 3Q13, generating AED2.64bn ($718m) in the quarter up eight per cent on the AED2.45bn generated in the year ago quarter. The firm’s mobile revenue increase 9.7 per cent and mobile data revenue increased 34.5 per cent, the firm added.

“Growth during the quarter was driven by progress made in the data segment and a continuing strategy of attracting high-value customers,” commented Du CEO Osman Sultan. “We remain concentrated on fostering innovation and bringing a competitive set of products to the market, with particular focus on data centric services.”