Increased network investment by Taiwan-based Chunghwa Telecom in 2021 yielded positive results on profit and mobile revenue growth in Q4, with strong uptake of higher-tier 5G plans.
In an earnings release, chairman and CEO Sheih Chi-Mau highlighted growth in mobile sales and ARPU driven by a 39 per cent uplift in monthly fees from contract renewals, with 5G penetration reaching about 20 per cent.
Penetration is expected to reach 30 per cent in 2022.
Chunghwa Telecom’s mobile subscriber base rose 5.5 per cent year-on-year to 11.9 million in Q4.
Net income increased 5.1 per cent to TWD8.6 billion ($310.1 million), with revenue flat on TWD59.9 billion. Mobile service revenue grew 9 per cent to TWD27.20 billion, driven by strong adoption of 5G services following the launch of the iPhone 13 series.
The operator forecasts 2022 revenue to increase by 1.1 per cent to 1.7 per cent to TWD2.3 billion to TWD3.5 billion, with net income expected to range from TWD34.1 billion to TWD36 billion compared with TWD35.8 billion in 2021.
Capex in 2021 was up 50.3 per cent to TWD35.3 billion, with TWD16.8 billion spent on mobile infrastructure.
It earmarked TWD36.8 billion for capex in 2022.
Source: https://www.mobileworldlive.com/asia/asia-news/capex-increase-drives-chunghwa-telecom-gains