eAccess: 9M revenues rise 55%, but net losses widen to JPY7.8bn

Japanese broadband access provider and mobile operator eAccess has reported a 55% rise in revenues for the first nine months of its fiscal year ended 31 March 2009 to JPY70.41 billion (USD780.23 million), up from JPY45.28 billion in the corresponding period of 2007, but said net losses widened from JPY2.58 billion to JPY7.85 billion in the same period. The group also recorded record operating profits, which climbed from JPY3.65 billion in 9M 2007/08 to JPY12.19 billion a year later. EBITDA was JPY17.44 billion, up 70% from JPY10.26 billion in the 2007/08 period. The operator said the overall performance was buoyed by its wireless arm eMobile which has experienced strong subscriber growth. The mobile unit ended 2008 with 1.12 million subscribers, up from 205,900 a year earlier, posting record net quarterly subscriber gains in the Oct-Dec quarter of 308,400. Meanwhile, the group’s ADSL business, which now includes recently acquired ACCA Networks, ended December 2008 with a total of 2.792 million subscribers, up from 2.085 a year earlier. Of the total, 1.77 million were eAccess users, 839,000 were former ACCA Networks accounts and 176,000 were AOL clients, it said.