AIS Q3 net profit beats forecast, sees growth momentum

BANGKOK, Nov 9 (Reuters): Advanced Info Service Pcl (AIS), Thailand's top mobile phone operator, reported a better-than-expected 26 per cent rise in quarterly earnings on Wednesday due to rising revenue in both voice and data services. AIS, Southeast Asia's largest wireless firm by market value, is expected to post strong growth this year driven by robust demand for mobile data, analysts said, forecasting that flooding in Thailand should have only a limited impact on its earnings. "The strong growth was driven by built-up demand for mobile data and resilient voice usage," AIS said in a statement. The company repeated that its revenue should grow by a "high single digit" percentage this year and said it expected no significant impact from the flooding, which had forced it to shut down about 100 cell sites, just 1 per cent of the total. AIS, 21.3 per cent owned by Singapore Telecommunications Ltd, posted a July-September net profit of 6.17 billion baht ($201 million), up from 4.88 billion baht a year earlier. The result was better than the average forecast of 5.8 billion baht from 10 analysts surveyed by the news agency. AIS, valued at about $13 billion, has about 50 per cent of the market in Thailand, ahead of Total Access Communication's (TAC) roughly 30 per cent. Last month, TAC reported a 0.4-per cent rise in quarterly net earnings. AIS's third-quarter service revenue rose 13 per cent, boosted by a 9-per cent increase in voice revenue and a 36-per cent increase in non-voice services. AIS said it aimed to achieve data revenue growth of 25-30 per cent in 2011.