Profits dip, while arch rival Telstra speeds aheadOptus today announced lower profits and loss of customers in second quarter to June 30.
The Singtel-owned telco saw mobile customers numbers fall 1.3% to 9.4 million during its latest quarter, new figures released by the second largest telco, show.
However, Optus says its 4G user base is “steady”, increasing by 282,000 in Q2, totaling 2.43 million, up 1.3 million in the past year.
However, Telstra has double that figure, now with 5.2 million 4G subscribers.
Optus mobile revenues fell 1.5% to $1.32 billion blamed on “the continuing effect of the industry-mandated reduction in mobile termination rates and lower equipment sales.”
However, mobile service revenue was stable, reflecting Optus’ strategy to drive data revenue growth.
Net profit declined 1.8% in Q2 to $164m and operating revenue also fell almost 3% to $2.061 bn.
EBITDA grew 4.4% to A$597 million for the second quarter, reflecting strong cost management and yield improvements, the telco said. EBITDA margin improved 2 percentage points to 29%.
In Optus Business, revenue also declined 3% to $367 million blamed on price competition and a decline in legacy data revenues.
“We’re upgrading our entire mobile network in preparation for access to 700MHz spectrum in January 2015, putting us well on track to offer 4G national coverage that reaches 90% of the Australian population by the end of March 2015.
This spectrum will be used to bring 4G coverage to regional locations and improve indoor 4G experience for more customers
