Taiwan-based Chunghwa Telecom booked improved profitability and rising revenue across all segments in Q1, fuelled by 5G subscriber growth.

On an earnings call yesterday (9 May), chairman and CEO Kuo Shui-Yi said it outperformed the industry, credited to upselling customers to 5G and post-paid plans.

“We beat all financial targets despite the uncertainties in the macroeconomic context”.

Kuo expects the mobile market to be stable and support future revenue growth momentum.

Net income attributable to shareholders increased 6.4 per cent year-on-year to TWD9.6 billion ($312.7 million), with consolidated revenue up 5.7 per cent to TWD54.2 billion.

Mobile service revenue grew 6.6 per cent to TWD15.8 billion, mainly due rising post-paid subscribers and steady migration to 5G.

Post-paid ARPU increased 4 per cent to TWD536.

Kuo said it booked a typical rise in monthly mobile fees of 43 per cent for customers migrating from 4G to 5G plans.

Its mobile subscriber base rose 6.1 per cent to 12.7 million.

Fixed broadband revenue increased 2.5 per cent to TWD10.8 billion.

Its enterprise business grew 8.2 per cent to TWD17.1 billion, with private 5G network and big data analysis sales doubling.

Capex rose 3.4 per cent to TWD5.4 billion, with mobile accounting for 27 per cent compared with 43 per cent in Q1 2022.

Full year revenue is forecast to rise at least 2.1 per cent to TWD221.2 billion.