Telefonica Moviles Mexico 1Q Revenue Up 46.6% To EUR315 Million

MEXICO CITY -(Dow Jones)- Spanish telecommunications company Telefonica said Wednesday that first-quarter revenue at its Mexican mobile unit rose 46.6% thanks to a big increase in subscribers and traffic.

Telefonica Moviles Mexico had revenue of 315 million euros ($426.1 million), up from EUR215 million in the year-ago quarter, the parent company said in its earnings release.

Operating income before depreciation and amortization was EUR22 million, compared with a loss of EUR25 million in the first quarter of 2006.

Telefonica said average minutes of use more than doubled year-on-year to 116 minutes in the first quarter, while average revenue per user increased 25.8% to 135.1 Mexican pesos ($12.5).

Total subscribers rose to 9.32 million at the end of March, from 6.56 million a year ago. Prepaid users grew 41.8% to 8.78 million, while the number of more lucrative post-paid clients rose 46.9% to 542,400.

Telefonica Moviles Mexico, which operates under the Movistar brand, has struggled to compete with market leader Telcel. Telcel, the local unit of Mexican wireless firm America Movil, had 44.8 million subscribers at the end of March.

Telefonica Moviles Mexico will also face more competition from the third-biggest mobile operator Grupo Iusacell, which is in the process of merging with smaller rival Unefon.

-By Ken Parks, Dow Jones Newswires; 52-55-5080-3453; ken.parks@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires"

Posted to the site on 17th May 2007