Far EasTone Telecommunications (FET), one of the three largest mobile telecom carriers in Taiwan, has set aside a capex budget of NT$10.5 billion (US$355 million) for 2013, the highest annual level on record, company president Yvonne Li said at a February 7 investors conference.
The planned 2013 capex increases 20.7% from 2012 and consists of NT$8.8 billion earmarked for mobile communication networks and NT$1.7 billion for fixed-line communication infrastructure, Li noted.
As of the end of the fourth quarter of 2012, FET had 5.392 million mobile communication subscribers, of which 2.378 million used data communication and/or value-added services, and 32% used smartphones, Li said.
FET brought in monthly ARPU (average revenues per user) of NT$882 from all mobile communication subscribers, and revenues of NT$1,400 from those using smartphones in the fourth quarter, Li pointed out. Smartphones and tablets together accounted for 87% of all hand-held terminal devices sold bundled with contracts in the quarter, Li added.
| FET: Financial report and forecast, 2012 (NT$b) | ||||
| Item | 2012 unaudited | Growth from 2011 | 2013 forecast | Growth from 2012 |
| Consolidated revenues | 86.745 | 14.5% | 89.665 | 3.4% |
| EBITDA* | 24.360 | 8.4% | 25.599 | 5.1% |
| Net profit | 10.600 | 19.4% | 11.408 | 7.6% |
| Net EPS (NT$) | 3.25 |
| 3.50 |
|
*Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortization
Source: Company, compiled by Digitimes, February 2013
Article translated by Adam Hwang
