Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT Corp), Japan’s biggest telecoms carrier by subscribers and revenue, booked net income of JPY737.738 billion (USD6.17 billion) for the full year ending 31 March 2016, up 42.4% from JPY518.066 billion in the prior financial year, as operating revenue edged up 4.0% to JPY11.541 trillion and operating income surged 24.3% to JPY1.348 trillion. EBITDA was broadly unchanged at JPY3.222 trillion, compared to JPY3.017 trillion and the EBITDA margin reflected this, climbing 0.7 percentage points to 27.9% year-on-year. Capital investment for the year fell JPY130.3 billion to JPY1.687 trillion, of which JPY622.1 billion went to its regional communications business, JPY595.5 billion to mobile, and the remainder to long-distance and international telecoms services, data and ‘other’.
In its financial statement, NTT Corp says it is looking to buy back as much as JPY350 billion worth of shares held by its largest shareholder – the Japanese government. It is understood that the former monopoly will buy up to 3.2% of its share capital in its current fiscal year (i.e. ending 31 March 2017), adding that it also intends to increase this year’s planned dividend payment to JPY120 per share, up from JPY110 in the year to end-March 2016. Bloomberg reports that NTT Corp, parent of NTT DOCOMO – the nation’s largest mobile operator by subscribers – is forecasting ‘record net income’ this year, and is looking at introducing new price plans in 2016/17 (possibly part of a government call to simplify billing and offer plans more suited to light and long term users).