TAIPEI, May 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd. (TAIEX: 2412, NYSE: CHT) ("Chunghwa" or "the Company") today reported its un-audited operating results for the first quarter of 2025. All figures were prepared in accordance with Taiwan-International Financial Reporting Standards ("T-IFRSs") on a consolidated basis.
(Comparisons throughout the press release, unless otherwise stated, are made with regard to the prior year period.)
First Quarter 2025 Financial Highlights
Total revenue increased by 1.6% to NT$ 55.81 billion.
Consumer Business Group revenue decreased by 0.2% to NT$ 34.57 billion.
Enterprise Business Group revenue increased by 2.3% to NT$ 17.34 billion.
International Business Group revenue increased by 0.9% to NT$ 2.44 billion.
Total operating costs and expenses increased by 0.6% to NT$ 43.29 billion.
Operating income increased by 5.0% to NT$ 12.52 billion.
EBITDA increased by 3.2% to NT$ 22.53 billion.
Net income attributable to stockholders of the parent increased by 4.3% to NT$ 9.80 billion.
Basic earnings per share (EPS) was NT$1.26.
Operating income, income before tax, net income attributable to stockholders of the parent and EPS all exceeded our proposed guidance.
"Chunghwa reported a solid start to 2025, achieving strong EPS and net income growth in the first quarter driven by robust operations and a leading market position," stated Mr. Chih-Cheng Chien, Chairman and CEO of Chunghwa Telecom. "Despite the rapid changes in the macroeconomic climate due to global tariff concerns, we see no material impact and believe these changes may present future growth avenues for our international business. That's why we expanded our Arizona office and launched a new office in Texas recently to support business development."
"In the first quarter, we continued to see penetration of cross-tier upgrade promotion packages and capitalized on strong momentum in Taiwan's mobile market, expanding market share to 40.5% and further strengthening our position as the market leader with the highest subscriber share at 39.1%. Such achievement helped drive our Consumer Business Group to deliver a 4.9% year-over-year increase in income before tax. Our Enterprise Business Groups leveraged momentum delivering 11.6% year-over year growth in Enterprise ICT revenue fueled by project revenue recognition, strong execution across our core business pillars, and sustained growth in recurring revenue including positive revenue growth in our cybersecurity, IDC, and cloud businesses. This growth was offset by continued decline in EBG's fixed voice revenue, which led to a 3.8% year over-year decrease in income before tax. In our International Business Group, income before tax increased 1.6% year-over-year driven by growth in overseas subsidiaries and double-digit revenues growth in businesses in Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand." said Mr. Rong-Shy Lin, President of Chunghwa Telecom.
"In January, as a part of our "Sea, Land, and Sky" initiative, we successfully collaborated with partners to integrate ST-2 high-orbit satellite with 5G base stations to realize end-to-end two-way video calls based on the latest 3GPP communication protocol. In April, we finalized a strategic partnership with the U.S. innovator Astranis to bring a dedicated Micro GEO satellite to Taiwan. Finally, we announced our investment in E2A, the trans-Pacific undersea cable connecting Asia to North America," added Mr. Lin.
Revenue
Chunghwa Telecom's total revenues for the first quarter of 2025 increased by 1.6% to NT$ 55.81 billion.
Consumer Business Group's revenue for the first quarter of 2025 decreased by 0.2% YoY to NT$ 34.57 billion. Mobile service revenue increased 3.1% YoY, mainly due to 5G migration and increasing postpaid subscribers, and the increase of OTT revenue driven by sports content and our exclusive release of popular dramas. CBG's income before tax increased 4.9% YoY, which is quite healthy, as our fixed broadband ARPU continue to hold up.
Enterprise Business Group's revenue for the first quarter of 2025 increased 2.3% YoY to NT$ 17.34 billion, mainly driven by our robust growth in ICT business, which saw a 11.6% year-over-year increase in revenue, fueled by the strong performance of our emerging services. This growth was offset by continued declines in EBG's fixed voice revenue which led to a 3.8% year over-year decrease in income before tax.
International Business Group's revenue for the first quarter of 2025 increased by 0.9% to NT$ 2.44 billion, while its income before tax increased 1.6% YoY. The positive growth was mainly due to its robust international IDC business growth and the continued strong demand for integrated ICT services in the global market.
Operating Costs and Expenses
Total operating costs and expenses for the first quarter of 2025 increased by 0.6% to NT$ 43.29 billion, mainly due to higher manpower cost and the growing ICT business.
Operating Income and Net Income
Operating income for the first quarter of 2025 increased by 5.0% to NT$ 12.52 billion. The operating margin was 22.4%, as compared to 21.7% in the same period of 2024. Net income attributable to stockholders of the parent increased by 4.3% to NT$ 9.80 billion. Basic earnings per share was NT$1.26.
Cash Flow and EBITDA
Cash flow from operating activities, as of March 31th, 2025, decreased by 8.6% year over year to NT$ 12.91 billion, mainly due to the rise in settlements of accounts payable.
Cash and cash equivalents, as of March 31th, 2025, decreased by 12.8% to NT$ 29.05 billion as compared to that as of March 31th, 2024.
EBITDA for the first quarter of 2025 was NT$ 22.53 billion, increasing by 3.2% year over year. EBITDA margin was 40.37%, as compared to 39.74% in the same period of 2024.
Business Highlights
Mobile
As of March 31th, 2025, Chunghwa Telecom had 13.11 million mobile subscribers, representing a 0.9% year-over-year decrease. In the first quarter, total mobile service revenue increased by 1.9% to NT$ 16.95 billion, while mobile post-paid ARPU excluding IoT SIMs maintained stable and flat year over year at NT$ 553.
Fixed Broadband/HiNet
As of March 31th, 2025, the number of broadband subscribers slightly increased by 0.8% to 4.43 million. The number of HiNet broadband subscribers increased by 1.4% to 3.75 million. In the first quarter, total fixed broadband revenue grew 2.5% year over year to NT$ 11.46 billion, while ARPU increased 2.1% to NT$ 798.
Fixed line
As of March 31th, 2025, the number of fixed-line subscribers was 8.83 million.
This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements constitute "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates" and similar statements. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about Chunghwa's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. A number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. Investors are cautioned that actual events and results could differ materially from those statements as a result of a number of factors including, but not limited to the risks outlined in Chunghwa's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Forms F-1, F-3, 6-K and 20-F, in each case as amended. The forward-looking statements in this press release reflect the current belief of Chunghwa as of the date of this press release and Chunghwa undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements for events or circumstances that occur subsequent to such date, except as required under applicable law.
This press release is not an offer of securities for sale in the United States. Securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration. Any public offering of securities to be made in the United States will be made by means of a prospectus that may be obtained from the issuer or selling security holder and that will contain detailed information about the company and management, as well as financial statements.
NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES
To supplement the Company's consolidated financial statements presented in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards pursuant to the requirements of the Financial Supervisory Commission, or T-IFRSs, Chunghwa Telecom also provides EBITDA, which is a "non-GAAP financial measure". EBITDA is defined as consolidated net income (loss) excluding (i) depreciation and amortization, (ii) total net comprehensive financing cost (which is comprised of net interest expense, exchange gain or loss, monetary position gain or loss and other financing costs and derivative transactions), (iii) other income, net, (iv) income tax, (v) (income) loss from discontinued operations.
In managing the Company's business, Chunghwa Telecom relies on EBITDA as a means of assessing its operating performance because it excludes the effect of (i) depreciation and amortization, which represents a non-cash charge to earnings, (ii) certain financing costs, which are significantly affected by external factors, including interest rates, foreign currency exchange rates and inflation rates, which have little or no bearing on our operating performance, (iii) income tax (iv) other expenses or income not related to the operation of the business.
CAUTIONS ON USE OF NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES
In addition to the consolidated financial results prepared under T-IFRSs, Chunghwa Telecom also provide non-GAAP financial measures, including "EBITDA". The Company believes that the non-GAAP financial measures provide investors with another method for assessing its operating results in a manner that is focused on the performance of its ongoing operations.
Chunghwa Telecom's management believes investors will benefit from greater transparency in referring to these non-GAAP financial measures when assessing the Company's operating results, as well as when forecasting and analyzing future periods. However, the Company recognizes that:
these non-GAAP financial measures are limited in their usefulness and should be considered only as a supplement to the Company's T-IFRSs financial measures;
these non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered in isolation from, or as a substitute for, the Company's T-IFRSs financial measures;
these non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered to be superior to the Company's T-IFRSs financial measures; and
these non-GAAP financial measures were not prepared in accordance with T-IFRSs and investors should not assume that the non-GAAP financial measures presented in this earnings release were prepared under a comprehensive set of rules or principle.
Further, these non-GAAP financial measures may be unique to Chunghwa Telecom, as they may be different from non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies. As such, this presentation of non-GAAP financial measures may not enhance the comparability of the Company's results to the results of other companies. Readers are cautioned not to view non-GAAP results as a substitute for results under T-IFRSs, or as being comparable to results reported or forecasted by other companies.
About Chunghwa Telecom
Chunghwa Telecom (TAIEX 2412, NYSE: CHT) ("Chunghwa" or "the Company") is Taiwan's largest integrated telecommunications services company that provides fixed-line, mobile, broadband, and internet services. The Company also provides information and communication technology services to corporate customers with its big data, information security, cloud computing and IDC capabilities, and is expanding its business into innovative technology services such as IoT, AI, etc. Chunghwa has been actively and continuously implemented environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives with the goal to achieve sustainability and has won numerous international and domestic awards and recognitions for its ESG commitments and best practices. For more information, please visit our website at www.cht.com.tw
