Today's result from Optus. Note how regulator has yet again...

Today's result from Optus. Note how regulator has yet again forced down the cost of calls & SMS. Optus has gained customers esp in mobile sector with its 4G technology. Competition among telcos remains intense and price war shows no sign of ending.

Optus lifts full-year profit

• JOHN CONROY
• THE AUSTRALIAN
• MAY 12, 2016 9:37AM

Singapore-owned Optus has seen revenue hit by the consumer watchdog’s change to mobile call fees but the telco says the effect on profitability has been minimal.
Revenue slumped 9 per cent in the March quarter due to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s regulated reduction of industry mobile termination rates, which determine the additional costs when customers of one operator call customers of other operators.
The ACCC more than halved the rate for calls — from 3.6c per minute to 1.7c — from January 1. The SMS rate was also reduced, from 7.5c per message to just 0.03c.
But Optus — Australia’s second largest telco — said its underlying profit lifted 10 per cent in the quarter, to $273 million, after “strong increases in the Optus branded mobile customer base and revenue growth in the fixed broadband business”.
For the full year, revenue rose 5 per cent to $9.12 billion, while underlying profit lifted 7 per cent to $931m. Net profit was up 7 per cent to $901m.
Blended mobile handset average revenue per user increased 5 per cent year-on-year, excluding the impact of the decline in mobile termination rates and device repayment plan credits.
Optus chief executive Allen Lew described the full-year results as “strong”, saying the telco was on track to meet its “transformative” three-year Australian targets.
“The strong results which Optus has reported over the last year reinforces that our focus on providing convergent mobile, fixed and multimedia services, combined with our innovative offers, is gaining traction with Australians,” he said.
“We are well on track to achieve our three-year targets which will see us transform our core business, by investing in mobile networks and content services.”
On the customer growth front, the telco said the number of 4G users had lifted 33 per cent in the 12-month period to 4.68 million.
Optus said it now has 113,000 NBN broadband customers for a total of 1.07 million broadband customers.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/bus...t/news-story/c6599e7243fb37304439ad798bd0951a