Thai mobile operator Dtac ended the third quarter with a total customer base of 24.82 million, slightly down by 0.1 percent from 24.85 million in September 2015. Blended ARPU increased by 6.9 percent year-on-year to THB 218 at end-September 2016. MoU decreased to 130 from 165, negatively impacted by voice-to-data substitution, the company said. Total revenues declined 0.8 percent year-on-year and 1.3 percent quarter-on-quarter to THB 19.5 billion in the third quarter of 2016. The year-on-year decrease was due to lower service revenues, while the sequential drop was due to lower handset sales, the company said.
EBITDA went up 2.1 percent to THB 7.2 billion and EBITDA margin improved to 37 percent from 35.9 percent in the third quarter of 2015. Dtac's net profit plunged 46 percent year-on-year to THB 659 million, affected by higher depreciation and amortization from network investment.
DTAC now forecasts FY 2016 service revenue slightly below the 2015 level, an EBITDA margin at least at the same level as the previous year, and capex at the same level as the previous year.
