Hong Kong's HKT and majority owner PCCW turned in a solid performance for the first half of the year, with the former's total revenue increasing 14% to HK$11.07 billion ($1.43 billion).
HKT's ebitda increased 3%, although increased revenue from the company's lower-margin international telecom business led to a three percentage point decline in ebtida margin to 35%.
Revenue from HKT's mobile business increased 20% to HK$1.36 billion, driven by a 13% increase in ARPU and a 3% increase in subscribers to 1.65 million.
Fixed data services revenue grew 9% year-on-year to HK$3.1 million, in a result the company attributed to its focus on FTTH services. The company had 362,000 FTTH subscribers by the end of the period, up 60% year-on-year.
Credit ratings agency Moody's said the results were roughly in-line with expectations, and have no effect on parent entity HKT Limited's Baa2 debt rating.
“Although the rate of ebitda growth could decline from 2H 2013 as the acquisition effect rolls off, we expect a moderate improvement in ebitda in 2H 2013 and 2014, given the ongoing growth in the broadband network and mobile businesses,” Moody's VP and lead analyst for HKT Yoshio Takahashi said.
HKT's 65% owner PCCW meanwhile revealed its core revenue grew 16% to HK$12.81 billion, with profit attributable to owners of the company growing 2% to HK$856 million.
PCCW attributed the growth to gains across its core operations, particularly the “sustained growth momentum” of HKT.
Moody's said PCCW's growth is a positive for HKT “given the high degree of operational interdependency between the entities under the company's quadruple play strategy.” The agency does not have a separate rating for PCCW.