Thailand's TOT has swung back to profit for the first quarter after slashing costs by nearly 30%, and despite a 20% decrease in consolidated revenue.
The state-owned operator reported a profit of 152 million baht ($4.5 million) for the quarter, a steep contrast from the 1.7 billion baht loss recorded in the same period a year earlier, the Bangkok Post reported.
TOT has been involved in a cost reduction program to help compensate for the loss of concession revenue following Thailand's move from a concession scheme to a more standard licensing regime. As well as cutting operating expenses, TOT has managed to reduce service costs by 38%.
The loss of concession revenue led to group revenue falling 20% to 12.2 billion baht for the quarter.
But the operator forecasting overall consolidated revenue of 33.3 billion baht for the full-year 2015, up from 29 billion baht in 2014.
Fixed-line services are expected to be a key contributor to this growth, contributing revenue of 11.2 billion baht this year, the report states.
TOT is meanwhile exploring entering partnerships with private mobile operators to expand its mobile operations in anticipation of the planned 4G auctions due to take place in November and December.