Latin American operator group America Movil reported improvements to profit and revenue in the third quarter as the Mexican peso appreciated and its wireless business continued to offset fixed losses.

The Carlos Slim-owned group received a MXN9.0 billion (US$689.4 million) boost due to the appreciation of the Mexican peso, compared to a foreign exchange loss of MXN16.1 billion in the prior quarter.

America Movil added 4.1 million wireless subscribers during the third quarter, representing a 6 percent increase year-on-year, to bring its total wireless subscriber base to 255.9 million. Mobile data revenue increased by 35.3 percent year-on-year, offsetting a 7.2 percent loss in fixed-line voice revenue.

The third quarter results also saw contributions from KPN included for the first time.

The group recorded net income of MXN30.6 billion on revenue of MXN193 billion. The profit was a 67 percent improvement on the same period in 2011 and twice that of the previous quarter. Revenue was up 4.5 percent from the equivalent quarter a year ago.

Mexico was a rich source of new subscribers, with Telcel adding 1.1 million new wireless customers to grow its base to 69.2 million subscribers. The division saw an 11.3 percent increase in wireless revenue during the period.

Operations in Colombia and Brazil added 587,000 and 481,000 subscribers respectively, with nearly a million of the group’s new subscribers being postpaid.

America Movil’s net debt now stands at MXN363.3 billion, with capex for the  first nine months of 2012 standing at MXN81.7 billion and acquisitions totalling MXN79 billion. Much of the expenditure was financed by the company’s own funds, although MXN55.6 billion came from the financial markets.

The acquisition of the additional 16 percent stake in Telekom Austria was completed during the third quarter after the move was given regulatory approval, while the group withdrew from an agreement to acquire Digicel’s El Salvador operations.