Chunghwa Telecom Reports Operating Results for the First Nine Months and Third Quarter of 2004
28 10월 2004 - 7:45PM
PR Newswire (US)
Chunghwa Telecom Reports Operating Results for the First Nine
Months and Third Quarter of 2004 TAIPEI, Taiwan, R.O.C. Oct. 28
/Xinhua-PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd (TAIEX:
2412; NYSE: CHT) ("Chunghwa" or "the Company"), today announced its
unaudited operating results for the third quarter of 2004. All
figures were prepared in accordance with US GAAP. Highlights for
the first nine months ending September 30, 2004: -- Revenues were
NT$138.4 billion, a 1.5% YoY increase -- Net income was NT$39.6
billion, a 9% YoY increase -- Fully-diluted earnings per common
share (EPS) was NT$4.11, or US$ 1.2 per ADS, and 9% YoY increase
Highlights for the third quarter of 2004: -- Revenues were NT$46.5
billion, a 0.3% QoQ increase -- Net income was NT$13.2 billion, a
2.7% QoQ decrease -- Earnings per share (EPS) were NT$ 1.36, or
US$0.4 per ADS, a 2.7% QoQ decrease. "We are very pleased with our
results given the increasingly competitive landscape of the Taiwan
telecom market," said Tan Ho Chen, Chairman of Chunghwa Telecom.
"Through the first nine months, revenues increased 1.5%. Although
it is well-known that our fixed line business is in decline, as it
is for most telecom companies, we have worked very hard to maintain
our overall profitability by concentrating on growing markets such
as Internet and data and mobile businesses. Our ADSL business alone
saw a tremendous 29% jump in new subscribers. As we move into the
fourth quarter of 2004 and into year 2005, we will continue to
focus on increasing shareholder returns by concentrating on these
growing markets while also redoubling our efforts to implement
stringent cost control. Summary Total revenue for the first nine
months of 2004 was NT$138.4bn, a 1.5% increase YoY. Of this, 39.0%
was from fixed-line services, 38.2% from wireless services and
21.3% from Internet and data services. The remainder was from other
services. Revenue from the Company's mobile, and Internet and data
services grew by 6.4% and 11.6%, respectively. International long
distance revenue declined slightly by 2.4%, mainly due to stiff
price competition and a decrease in outgoing minutes. Domestic long
distance revenue declined by 11.8%, mainly because a number of
customers transitioned to mobile services and also because of a
decrease in interconnection revenues owing to the return of transit
fees to alternative operators. Local call revenue declined by 7.2%
YoY, again, mainly due to mobile substitution and a migration of
subscribers to broadband from dial-up Internet access services.
Total operating costs and expenses for first nine months 2004
decreased by 0.2% YoY, mainly because of a decrease in bad debt
provisions and depreciation and amortization. The company will
continue to implement stringent cost controls. Total revenue for
the third quarter of 2004 was NT$46.5bn, a 0.3% QoQ increase. Of
this, 38.9% was from fixed-line services, 38.8% was from wireless
services and 20.4% was from Internet and data services. The
remainder was from other services. We continued to shift our
revenue mix towards growing businesses, including Internet and data
and wireless services. Total operating costs and expenses for the
third quarter of 2004 were NT$30.7bn, a 1.0% QoQ increase. This was
mainly due to an increase in handset subsidies and other marketing
expenses. Businesses Performance Highlights Internet and Data
Services -- Internet and data revenue for first nine months
increased by 11.6% YoY to approximately NT$29.4bn. Revenue in the
third quarter of 2004 was NT$9.5bn, a 6.3% QoQ decrease. This was
primarily driven by tariff reductions for our HiNet ISP service,
and for ADSL services since June. -- The total number of Internet
subscribers was about 3.8mn as of Sep. 30, 2004, a 7.0% YoY
increase. In the third quarter of 2004, we added 72,000
subscribers. -- ADSL subscribers totaled 2.9mn as of Sep. 30, 2004,
a 29% YoY increase. We continued our strong growth in this business
by adding 195,000 ADSL subscribers in the third quarter of 2004.
Mobile Service -- Mobile revenue for the first nine months of 2004
increased by 6.4% YoY to NT$52.6bn due to strong subscriber growth,
an increase in minute usage and increased VAS revenue. For the
third quarter of 2004, mobile revenue increased by 3.7%. This was
due to strong subscriber growth and typical seasonal spikes in
usage. -- At the end of September 2004, mobile subscribers reached
8.3mn, a 4.0% YoY increase. -- Our blended Average Revenue per User
(ARPU) was NT$707 for the first nine months of the year. Q3 ARPU
increased by 2.4% to NT$732 due to seasonal spikes in usage. --
Chunghwa continues to be the leading mobile operator in Taiwan in
both revenue and subscriber market share with 35.4% and 36.2%
respectively as of the end of August 2004, according to data
announced on the Directorate General of Telecommunications (DGT)
website. Fixed Line Services -- Total fixed line revenues for the
first nine months 2004 declined by 7.1% to NT$54.0bn, mainly due to
fixed-line competition, mobile substitution and a continuous
migration of dial-up subscribers to ADSL broadband services.
Fixed-line revenue for the third quarter of 2004 was NT$18.1bn, a
decrease of 0.1% QoQ. -- Chunghwa's total fixed line subscriber
base stood at approximately 13.2mn as of Sep. 30, 2004, a 1.0% YoY
increase. Financial Statements Financial statements and additional
operating data can be found on our website at
http://www.cht.com.tw/ir/filedownload . About Chunghwa Telecom
Chunghwa Telecom (TAIEX 2412, NYSE: CHT) is the leading telecom
service provider in Taiwan. Chunghwa Telecom provides fixed line,
mobile, and Internet and data services to residential and business
customers in Taiwan. Note Concerning Forward-looking Statements
Except for statements in respect of historical matters, the
statements made in this press conference contain "forward-looking
statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the U.S.
Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the U.S. Securities
Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements involve known
and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause
the actual performance, financial condition or results of
operations of Chunghwa Telecom to be materially different from what
may be implied by such forward-looking statements. Investors are
cautioned that actual events and results could differ materially
from those statements as a result of a number of factors including,
among other things: extensive regulation of state owned enterprises
by the ROC government and extensive regulation of telecom industry;
the intensely competitive telecom industry; our relationship with
our labor union; general economic and political conditions,
including those related to the telecom industry; possible
disruptions in commercial activities caused by natural and human
induced events and disasters, including terrorist activity, armed
conflict and highly contagious diseases, such as SARS; and those
risks identified in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in Chunghwa
Telecom's Form F-1 filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission in connection with our U.S. initial public offering. The
financial statements included in this press conference were
unaudited, and prepared and published in accordance with U.S. GAAP.
Chunghwa Telecom also prepared certain financial statements for the
same periods discussed in this press conference under ROC GAAP.
Investors are cautioned that there are many differences between ROC
GAAP and U.S. GAAP. As a result, our results under U.S. GAAP and
ROC GAAP may in many events be substantially different. The
forward-looking statements in this press conference reflect the
current belief of Chunghwa Telecom as of the date of this press
conference and we undertake no obligation to update these
forward-looking statements for events or circumstances that occur
subsequent to such date. For more information, please contact: Fufu
Shen, Investor Relations Tel: +886-2-2344-5488 Email: DATASOURCE:
Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd CONTACT: Fufu Shen, +886 2 2344 5488 or
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