Chunghwa Telecom Reports Q3 Revenue Decline or 1.5%

Chunghwa Telecom, the incumbent operator in Taiwan, reported a 3% revenue growth for the first nine months of 2008, but a revenue decline of 1.5% in Q3 2008. Chunghwa's total revenue for the first nine months of 2008 reached NT$151.9 billion, of which 28.4% was from fixed-line services, 35.9% was from mobile services, 24.5% was from Internet and data services and the remainder 11.2% was from other revenues, including handset sales from SENAO and Chunghwa.


Internet and data revenue of NT$37.3 billion in the first nine months of 2008 was 1.3% higher than the comparable period in 2007. This was driven by the continued growth in the total broadband subscriber base, FTTB and ADSL speed upgrades, and partly offset by an ADSL tariff adjustment that took effect on April 1, 2008.


Mobile revenue decreased by 2.0% in the first nine months of 2008 to NT$54.6 billion. This was primarily due to the positive effects of the 2.5% increase in subscriber numbers and the 26.8% increase in value added service revenue year-over-year, but was offset by the traffic decline and the price cuts by the National Communication Commission ("NCC").


Total fixed-line revenue declined 3.7% to NT$43.1 billion as compared to the prior year period. International Long Distance revenue decreased 4.2%, mainly due to increased competition from calling card and the decrease in settlement income resulting from the fluctuation of FX rate. Local and domestic long distance revenues decreased by 2.9% and 6.5% year-over-year, respectively, for the first nine months of 2008, mainly due to mobile and VOIP substitution.


For the third quarter 2008, Internet revenue was 0.3% lower while data revenue increased by 2.5% year-over-year. Mobile revenue decreased by 3.4%, mainly due to the price cuts imposed by the NCC and promotional packages provided by Chunghwa. Fixed line revenue as a whole decreased by 5.1% as compared to the same period last year.


As to the global economic downturn, Dr. Shyue-ching Lu, Chairman and CEO of Chunghwa Telecom, made the following comment: "The current financial crisis has impacted the global economy, especially in the US. Based on our current outlook, given that telecommunication is a utility-like service and our dominant leadership in Taiwan, the impact on us will be relatively small. As a result, currently, we are still confident that we should be able to achieve our annual guidance which we set out earlier in 2008."http://cht.com.tw