The Wall Street Journal-20080205-Business Technology- NTT Net Sinks On Weakness In Mobile Units
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Business Technology: NTT Net Sinks On Weakness In Mobile Units
Full Text (267 words)TOKYO -- Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp. said a slump in its regional and mobile-communications businesses contributed to a 22% decline in nine-month group net profit.
Net for the nine months ended Dec. 31 fell to 320.86 billion yen ($3.01 billion) from 410.14 billion yen a year earlier. Operating profit fell 9.6% to 874.38 billion.
Revenue edged down 1.1% to 7.84 trillion yen from 7.93 trillion yen. The company didn't break down results for its fiscal third quarter.
At group company NTT DoCoMo Inc., Japan's largest mobile-phone carrier by subscribers, net profit for the three months ended Dec. 31 rose 38% to 130 billion yen, thanks to lower churn rates helped by the introduction of new fee plans and a range of new handsets. Churn rates measure when customers quit one cellphone service to sign up with a rival.
"As our regional communications businesses will likely suffer for a while, NTT DoCoMo, which is contributing more than 70% of operating profits, is really important to us," said Satoshi Miura, Nippon Telegraph's president and chief executive.
Nippon Telegraph expects to incur unspecified charges in the current quarter for a program to streamline its operations in NTT Data Corp. The unit in November said its employees can opt to transfer to another group company as part of a companywide program to cut costs and boost efficiency. "The costs will be one-time expenses that will contribute to cost savings in the long run," Mr. Miura said.
Nippon Telegraph left its earnings forecast unchanged for the fiscal year through March. Nippon Telegraph's earnings are based on U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.
