HKBN profit falls 66% in 1H17

HKBN has reported a 66% decline in net profit for the first quarter of 2017 to HK$46 million ($5.9 million), due in part to investments associated with the operator’s entry into the mobile market as an MVNO.

But revenue grew 25% to HK$1.53 billion as the company accelerated growth in both its residential and enterprise businesses.

HKBN said that since the beginning of the financial year, the Hong Kong operator’s residential focus has shifted from subscriber to revenue growth.

The company traded off a slowdown in broadband net additions – to 21,000 from 38,000 in the same quarter a year earlier – for an improvement in ARPU to HK$192 from HK$166 over the same period.

Residential revenue accordingly grew 5% year-on-year to HK$941 million, with HKBN increasing its market share to around 37.6% by end-December, from 37.2% as of August 31.

Enterprise business revenue meanwhile more than doubled to HK$569 million, as a result of the HK$650 million acquisition of New World Telecom (NWT) in March last year. HKBN recorded 1,000 enterprise net additions to take its total base to 51,000, while ARPU was flat at HK$1,467.

“This interim results mark the beginning of our quad-play harvest,” HKBN CEO William Yeung said.

“We have a monthly billing relationship with over 870,000 broadband households, representing over one-third of Hong Kong households. We will continue to leverage this to expand from our double-play centric business on broadband and fixed voice to quad-play, which includes OTT and mobile service offerings.”