NTT Docomo’s Revenue & Profits Fell From April To December Last Year

Major mobile phone carrier NTT Docomo Inc. reported Thursday that both group sales and profits fell year-on-year in the April-December 2019 period, mainly due to new discount plans introduced in June last year.

The company’s sales dropped 3.8 percent, to ¥3.51 trillion, while operating profit tumbled 12.7 percent to ¥787.8 billion. Net profit sank 10.7 percent to ¥542.3 billion.

Still, NTT Docomo President Kazuhiro Yoshizawa sounded upbeat on the firm’s performance for the full year to March, saying at a news conference that “we are on track to achieve our annual targets,” including a net profit of ¥575 billion.

The total number of applications for the new subscription plans, which features cuts of up to 40 percent in communications fees, topped 12 million earlier this month.

Sales of mobile phone handsets dropped — reflecting the introduction of new rules that set an upper limit on financial aid for purchases — but the company’s fiber-optic as well as financial and settlement operations were robust.―Japan Times