DoCoMo 1H Profits off 20 Percent

NTT DoCoMo Inc.’s net profit for the fiscal first half ended 30 September was 20 percent lower than a year earlier, with the decline in net profit to a great extent due to the absence in the first half of one-off gains of the kind made in the corresponding period of last year (when the company booked a special capital gain of 62 bn yen from the sale of its 20-percent stake in Hutchison 3G UK Holdings Ltd.). DoCoMo reported a first-half net profit of 309.82 bn yen, compared to 385.28 bn yen a year earlier.

Its operating profit fell 7.4 pct to 516.89 bln yen, failing to benefit from a 0.4-pct rise in revenue to 2.38 trln yen. Operating costs rose 2.8 pct to 1.87 trln yen as the company attempted to speed up the adoption by subscribers of its 3G service. The company also spent heavily on the preparations to gain more subscribers as the cellphone regime here changes this week to allow subscribers to switch carriers without changing their phone numbers. Continue >>