3 Major Japanese Mobile Carriers Enjoy Higher Sales, Operating Profits

May 11, 2018

Tokyo- Three major Japanese mobile carriers produced gains in consolidated sales and operating profit in the year that ended in March, according to their earnings reports.

KDDI Corp.'s operating profit rose 5.5 pct from the previous year to a record 962.7 billion yen as its online shopping and payment services fared well. Sales rose 6.2 pct to 5,041.9 billion yen.

The number of subscribers to the company's "au" mobile services declined, while UQ mobile-branded low-cost smartphone service operated by a subsidiary reported an increase in subscriber number.

The company expects to see its operating profit top one trillion yen in the current year to next March.

NTT Docomo Inc. posted 973.2 billion yen in operating profit, up 3.0 pct.

The profit growth was led by the Docomo Hikari discount plan combining smartphone and fiber-optic broadband services, launched in March 2015. The plan made a 1.4-fold jump in subscriber number, to 4.76 million.

NTT Docomo's net profit grew 14.1 pct to 744.5 billion yen as the company booked compensation it received from India's Tata Group following the dissolution of their partnership. Sales increased 4.0 pct to 4,769.4 billion yen.

Softbank Group Corp.'s operating profit rose 27.1 pct to 1,303.8 billion yen, surpassing one trillion yen for the second consecutive year.

The solid profit resulted from appraisal gains in stocks held by the company's 10-trillion-yen investment fund, which more than offset a profit fall in its domestic communications business amid an expansion in the mobile discount program.

Softbank's net profit plunged 27.2 pct to 1,038.9 billion yen after the previous year's performance was boosted by one-time gains from share sales. Sales grew 2.9 pct to 9,158.7 billion yen. Jiji Press