By Joseph Waring
Japan-based KDDI predicted ARPU will bottom-out in its current fiscal year, driven by adoption of 5G services, after a fifth consecutive quarter of annual declines in its fiscal Q4 2022 (ending 31 March).
The company forecasts net income in fiscal 2023 to rise 2.3 per cent to JPY688 billion (US$5.3 billion) and operating revenue to increase 2.1 per cent to JPY5.6 trillion.
Net profit in fiscal Q4 2022 grew 15.1 per cent year-on-year to JPY118.3 billion and total operating revenue 3.2 per cent to JPY1.42 trillion, boosted by non-telecoms segments and device sales.
Mobile service revenue fell 4.3 per cent to JPY413 billion, with blended ARPU declining 7.5 per cent to JPY4,050.
Handset sales increased 4.5 per cent to JPY189.5 billion.
The operator added 5.6 million 5G subscribers for a total of more than 8 million, with total customers up 2.2 per cent to 62.1 million.
Life Design revenue grew 15.5 per cent to JPY436 billion. Business services increased 5.5 per cent to JPY285.5 billion, and IoT connections grew 42.4 per cent to 24.5 million.
