DOCOMO reports strong 9M results driven by 'Kake-hodai & Pake-aeru' billing plans and smartphone use

摘要

Japan's leading mobile operator by subscribers, NTT DOCOMO, has published its latest financial results for the nine months ended 31 December 2016, reporting net income (attributable to shareholders) of JPY589.426 billion (USD5.177 billion), up 19.7% from JPY492.440 billion for the corresponding year-earlier period. Operating revenue increased 2.5% to JPY3.469 trillion from JPY3.383 trillion, mainly due to the recovery of telecoms services revenues as a result of the growth of the packet consumption of its 'Kake-hodai & Pake-aeru' billing plans, the expansion of smartphone use, rising demand for tablets and other products purchased as a second mobile device for individual use, and the growth in the number of 'docomo Hikari' (i.e. fiber-optic broadband) users. Operating income for the nine months under review surged 22.9% to JPY842.336 billion, and pre-tax earnings jumped 24.9% to JPY846.165 billion, while CAPEX rose by 10.2% year-on-year to JPY399.4 billion as DOCOMO professed to have 'pursued more efficient use of capital expenditures and further cost reduction', and expanded the area coverage of its 'PREMIUM 4G' service.