NTT Net Profit Down 38 Percent On Mobile Weakness

TOKYO (AP) — Japan's biggest telecommunications company, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp., said Monday its net profit tumbled 38 percent last quarter due to slumping mobile phone operations.

Slowing cell phone sales led the Tokyo-based company to modestly lower its revenue outlook for the fiscal year.

For the July-September period, NTT's income dropped to 142.7 billion yen ($1.58 billion) from 230.8 billion yen last year.

Group revenue fell to 2.495 trillion yen ($27.66 billion) from 2.571 trillion yen, while operating profit shrank 14 percent to 321 billion yen ($3.56 billion).

The company cited weakness at its mobile communications unit, NTT DoCoMo Inc., Japan's top cell-phone carrier by subscriber base. Last month, NTT DoCoMo said net profit in the recent quarter tumbled 20 percent amid lower revenue from phone calls and handsets.

NTT owns about two-thirds of NTT DoCoMo.

The company noted that Japan's mobile market was reaching a saturation point.