Latin America operator group America Movil – the world's third-largest by connections – reported a drop in net income for the fourth quarter of 2011, despite increased revenues.

Net income for Q4 was MXN16.3 billion (US$1.28 billion), down almost 33 percent year on year and 12.8 percent compared to the previous quarter. The company attributed the fall in net income to depreciation of the peso and an increase in net debt due to the purchase of stock in Telmex, Telmex Internacional, Net Servicos and StarOne, as well as its own stock repurchases.

EBITDA was MXN64.5 billion, up 3.9 percent from Q4 2010, and contributing to a 15.1 percent increase in operating profits which hit MXN38.3 billion.

Fourth quarter revenue was MXN182 billion, up 12.3 percent from the same quarter a year ago. Wireless revenue increase 15.4 percent compared to 6.8 percent for fixed-line services. Mobile data service revenue rose by 27 percent.

In terms of mobile subscriptions, America Movil had 241.8 million subscribers by the end of 2011, up 7.4 percent on 2010. Net additions in the fourth quarter were 304,000, with the company gaining 1.6 million postpaid customers. This took postpaid net additions to 6.1 million for the year, 23.7 percent more than in 2010. Wireless revenue for the quarter rose by 15.4 percent and accounted for almost two-thirds of the company’s total revenue.

“Our strategy has been increasingly oriented towards developing a greater presence in the postpaid sector and seeking out only the best prepaid clients,” the company said.

America Movil operates in a number of countries across South and Central America and the Caribbean and is owned by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim. The fourth quarter saw the company secure 100 percent ownership of Digicel Honduras, a deal which also saw its Jamaican operations become part of Digicel. The company also started operating in Costa Rica during the quarter.

America Movil’s dominance in Mexico – where its Telcel brand controls about 70 percent of the market – was challenged last year with local regulator Cofetel demanding it halve the rate it charges competitors to terminate calls on its network.