Brazilian carrier Oi posted a 21% decrease in third quarter net profits from a year ago to $249 million. Net revenues dropped 1.9% over the same time frame to $4 billion, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, an indication of a company’s operating profit, was $1.424 billion.
Among Q3 highlights, the carrier announced adding 6.5 million new customers and a record on broadband expansion, with 134,000 new customers. Oi also registered 2.8% growth in average revenue per user of mobile telephony compared to the previous quarter, which could demonstrate an increase on the profitability of the business and an improving quality of the customer base.
Oi closed the third quarter with 67.1 million subscribers.
During the period, costs and operating expenses (excluding depreciation, amortization) totaled $2.54 billion, down 2.8% compared to the previous period.
Oi invested nearly $577 million in capital expenditures, representing a 60% increase compared with the same period in 2010. Fixed line investments focused on expansion projects and the quality of broadband infrastructure, as well as increasing network speeds. Across its mobile division investments were directed at expanding coverage and increasing capacity of 3G data traffic, especially in São Paulo and southern Brazil.
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