KDDI, the second-largest mobile operator in Japan by subscribers, reported impressive results for its fiscal second quarter, with strong growth in mobile revenue, subscribers and ARPU, along with its non-telecoms business.

Operating revenue in the July to September period increased 6.3 per cent year-on-year to JPY1.32 trillion ($12.2 billion). Mobile revenue rose 3.6 per cent to JPY569 billion, its Life Design business grew 39.3 per cent to JPY309 billion and business services revenue increased 6.8 per cent to JPY234 billion.

Handset sales dipped 1.2 per cent to JPY158 billion. MVNO revenue jumped 41.7 per cent to JPY15.7 billion.

Net profit was up 10.9 per cent to JPY185 billion.

Atul Goyal, equity analyst at Jefferies, said in a research note the numbers were strong, especially in the face of consistent regulatory pressure on pricing, and government backing of increased competition through MVNOs and new MNO Rakuten Mobile.

The operator added 3.77 million mobile subscribers in the year to end-September, for a total of 57.3 million. ARPA rose 4.3 per cent to JPY7,770.

Outlook
Capex for the first six months of the fiscal year was unchanged, with the total for the fiscal year expected to rise 1.3 per cent to JPY610 billion. Revenue is forecast to increase 2.4 per cent to JPY5.2 trillion, with net profit expected to remain stable at JPY620 billion.

KDDI, which deployed its first 5G first base stations in September, plans to launch commercial service at end-March 2020 and aims to deploy 50,000 sites by end-March 2023.