Dow Jones Newswires writes that Telefonica Brazil has reported third-quarter net income of BRL935.8 million (USD461 million), down 29.8% from a year earlier on the back of soaring tax expenses. The operator said that its 3Q12 results were impacted by the lower taxes it paid in 3Q11 (as dividends were paid in the form of interest on its own capital). In the current period though, tax expenses climbed sharply to BRL554.2 million, compared to the BRL55.7 million reported in the three months to 30 September 2011.
The results, which included Telefonica of Spain’s recently merged Brazilian fixed telephone company and mobile arm, confirmed that net revenue rose to BRL8.46 billion from BRL8.29 billion, while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased slightly to BRL2.9 billion from BRL2.82 billion in 3Q11. The EBITDA margin increased to 34.4% from 34.1%, it said.
Telefonica Brazil (Vivo) closed out September with a total of 91.9 million customers, compared with 82.37 million a year earlier.