Taiwan Mobile Co Ltd

TWSE:3045

Q3-2025 Earnings Call

[Operator]

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Taiwan Mobile conference call. Our Chairperson today is Mr. Jamie Lin. Mr. Lin, please begin your call and I'll be standing by for the question-and-answer session. Thank you.

[Zhichen Lin, executive]

Thank you, operator. Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to Taiwan Mobile's Third Quarter 2025 Results Conference Call. Before I start our presentation, please refer to our safe harbor notice on this page.

Now let's take a look at our business overview. Please turn to Page 4 for highlights of the quarter. Our 3 main growth engines, mobile, home broadband and new Telco+Tech businesses, all delivered healthy top line momentum in the third quarter. In fact, mobile service revenue hit a 9-year high during the quarter. In terms of profitability, Telecom EBITDA increased by 5% year-over-year, thanks to optimization of subsidies and marketing expenses. If we exclude the impact from one-off investment gains booked in the same quarter last year, net profit would have increased by 3% this year.

Now let's take a look -- closer look at our mobile business on the next page. Our sustainable growth foundation strategy continued to underpin the solid performance of our core Telecom business through exclusive customer-centric offerings. In Q3, smartphone ARPU rose by 2% Y-o-Y, while the monthly churn rate of postpaid users stayed at a record low of 0.6%. 5G penetration exceeded 43%, up 4 percentage points year-over-year, driven by the new iPhone launch and ongoing upselling through our unique bundles. Contract renewals recorded a 7% uplift in monthly fees and 4G to 5G migration saw a 49% uplift. This supported a 9% Y-o-Y growth in 5G revenue, lifting its contribution to mobile service revenue to 67%.

Our bundled offerings are designed to enhance customer stickiness and drive upselling through their unique values. Our Double Play bundles, which combines mobile data and home broadband, signed up 70% of subscribers at TWD 999 or higher rate plans, a significant bump up versus the average of our smartphone user base. Moreover, 61% of contract renewals saw their total monthly fees increased. During the quarter, we expanded Double Plays home broadband coverage to 87% of households nationwide by partnering with one more cable TV provider, paving the way for further growth. The mobile market continues due course since market consolidation from price competition towards value competition during the quarter, with total number porting volume down 19% Y-o-Y.

Next, let's turn to Page 6 for updates on our home broadband business. Our broadband business maintained healthy momentum, posting a 3% Y-o-Y revenue growth in Q3, driven by an increase in number of subscribers. This underscores continued demand for high-speed connectivity, supported by our competitive pricing. For example, our 1 gigabit plan offers consumers 23% to 42% savings compared with the market leader. Growth was further supported by solid traction in our bundled offerings, which integrate cable TV, broadband, mobile and OTT content such as myVideo, Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max and YouTube Premium. The number of broadband subscribers on 300 megabps or higher, including double-play bundled users surged 29% Y-o-Y, twice the segment growth speed of the market leader. Overall, EBITDA was stable Y-o-Y as the solid performance of our broadband business largely offset the revenue decline in the cable TV segment.

Next, let's take a look at our new Telco+Tech businesses on the next page. Our new Telco+Tech businesses delivered 11% Y-o-Y revenue growth in Q3. As mentioned on our Q2 conference call, the GaaS platform we built on our core telecom chips underpins both our enterprise solutions and the first-party tech ventures. Our e-commerce services for brand business or [indiscernible] recorded a 7% Q-o-Q rise in GMV, driven by expanded retail channel coverage and new brand client acquisitions. Looking ahead, our promotional strategy will focus on leveraging group synergies and data-driven insights to capture market share and enhance marketing efficiency.

Meanwhile, TWEX, also known as Taiwan [indiscernible], our crypto exchange platform launched in Q2 this year saw its registered users surged 60% Q-o-Q. We continue to see promising market potential, particularly among users seeking a secure, trusted and user-friendly platform.

Lastly, our [Foreign Language] direct billing -- direct carrier billing and business and game publishing business continue to grow steadily. We have been actively expanding our service portfolio to drive recurring usage and deepen integration across more digital platforms. This progress highlights the growing adoption of carrier-based payments across our user base.

Now let's take a look at our momo business on the next page. momo's Q3 results reflected the impact of a still challenging operating environment. While revenue declined, its take rate improved Y-o-Y as the third-party e-commerce platform, mo-shop+ continued to gain momentum and expand GMV. By the end of the quarter, mo-shop+ featured over 3 million SKUs and 8,000 curated merchants with the orders more than doubling compared to last year.

Now let me pass the virtual mic over to our CFO, George Chang, for financial overview.

[George Chang, executive]

Thank you, Jamie. Good afternoon. Let's start with the performance by business. In 3Q '25, Telecom delivered 2% Y-o-Y revenue growth and accounted for 46% of our consolidated revenue. As for profitability, Telecom EBITDA grew by 5% Y-o-Y and contributed 83% of consolidated EBITDA for the quarter. The Y-o-Y increase was driven by mobile plan upselling and disciplined management of subsidies and marketing expenses.

While we realized these savings right away in the quarter, the full benefit is then immediately reflected on the P&L because of IFRS 15 amortization. Momo's EBITDA and profit contribution further dropped to 9% and 7%, respectively, in 3Q, hindered by lower revenue and increased investment in new business. That said, for the first 3 quarters of the year, the year-over-year decline in momo's net income was partially offset by tax credit related to Southern distribution center.

Let's go to the results summary. In 3Q, consolidated EBITDA rose by 1% Y-o-Y as the solid 5% growth in Telecom EBITDA offset softer performance at momo. The Y-o-Y swing in nonoperating results was primarily due to the one-off investment gain recognized in the same period last year. Excluding the high base impact, net income and EPS would have increased by 3% Y-o-Y. For the first 3 quarters of the year, operating income went up by 4% Y-o-Y, supported by a 15% increase in Telecom EBIT, the highest among peers, driven primarily by network consolidation synergy.

On the non-op side, interest expenses rose as we refinanced at a higher market rate. But bear in mind that 85% of the TWD 123 million Y-o-Y increase was noncash accrued for the convertible bonds issued early this year. Without the one-off gains from last year, net income and EPS would have increased by 9% Y-o-Y for the first 3 quarters.

Let's move on to the balance sheet. The Y-o-Y decline in cash and cash equivalents was primarily attributable to momo's use of internally generated cash flow to fund capital expenditures and dividend payments while maintaining a debt-free position. Short-term investments increased Y-o-Y and Q-o-Q as the convertible notes due within 1 year was reclassified from long-term investments. The decrease in long-term investment was driven by the same reclassification as well as valuation fluctuation. Right-of-use assets and noncurrent lease liabilities increased Y-o-Y and Q-o-Q, driven by the lease of our new AI data center.

Gross debt decreased by TWD 6 billion Y-o-Y, showing our disciplined capital allocation and healthy cash flow generation. Supported by healthy cash flows, our net debt-to-EBITDA ratio declined Y-o-Y, while solid profitability kept ROE steady at 15%.

Lastly, let's look at cash flow on the next slide. Driven by robust cash generation from the Telecom business, consolidated operating cash flow rose 11% Y-o-Y in 3Q, outpacing EBITDA growth, mainly reflecting favorable working capital changes from strong iPhone 17 sales as well and expense discipline in the mobile business. Investing cash outflow declined Y-o-Y as 3Q '24 reflected a higher base from strategic investment in Systex and Fubon Green Power. Financing cash outflow increased Y-o-Y driven by higher dividend distribution by Taiwan Mobile. Supported by steady operating cash flow and lower cash CapEx, Q3 free cash flow surged by 15% Y-o-Y for the first 3 quarters. Free cash flow rose by 7% Y-o-Y to TWD 14.8 billion, translating into an annualized free cash flow yield of 6%.

Let me turn the presentation back to Jamie for an update and key message.

[Zhichen Lin, executive]

Thank you, George. Taiwan Mobile on Page 15 has once again been recognized for its commitment to ESG receiving an A rating in the CDP Suppliers Engagement Assessment for the fourth consecutive year. We are also very proud to be one of the -- to be the only Taiwan Telecom operator ranked among TIME’s Global top 100 most sustainable companies of 2025. This is also the eighth straight year we have been included in the Taiwan Sustainability Index.

Moreover, in our first inclusion in the Taiwan FINI 100, which recognizes companies with growing foreign ownership, consistent profitability and strong ESG performance, Taiwan Mobile debuted as #14 overall and ranked #1 amongst Telecom operators. Lastly -- last but not least, our IR team has been nominated for IR Impacts Best in Communications sector, Greater China award for 2 consecutive years.

Finally, to wrap up our presentation, please turn to Page 16, and here is the key message we would like for you to take away with. The combination of constructive market dynamics and disciplined operational cost management expected to sustain Telecom earnings growth. Our proprietary Telco+Tech offerings, along with solution-driven businesses developed through strategic partnerships continue to perform well. We anticipate these strategies to generate solid free cash flow, supporting healthy dividend distribution while funding investments in both core and emerging business areas.

With that, let's open the floor for questions. If you're participating online, you are more than welcome to send your questions via the online chat box. We will begin by addressing the telephone line inquiries before we move on to the web. So operator, please go ahead.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions] And we have first question comes from [indiscernible] with JPMorgan.

[Unknown Analyst]

I might have missed this earlier when you go through the financial balance sheet statement just now. But can I just check on the specific reason behind the decline in cash for this quarter? Is there any specific use of cash in this quarter that resulted in the decline?

[George Chang, executive]

This is George. The major reason for decline in cash is due to momo. Bear in mind that they are -- there is a pretty significant cash outflow for their central distribution center this year. If I recall correctly, I think the Y-o-Y increase is about close to $1 billion.

[Zhichen Lin, executive]

Hope that answers your question.

[Unknown Analyst]

Just a follow-up question on that. Do we have internal target on how much money we set aside to continue to invest in the momo business?

[George Chang, executive]

We continue to invest in momo business.

[Unknown Analyst]

Yes. Is there like a quantum of cash that we set aside to invest in the momo?

[George Chang, executive]

I mean aside from the central distribution center, which again was passed by the Board, I think it was more than a year ago. Aside from that, if you look at the normalized CapEx for momo should be way below $1 billion a year, purely from a CapEx perspective. I'm not sure if that answers your question.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions]

[Zhichen Lin, executive]

Operator, we do have a question online. I think we will go ahead and address that before we see if there's more questions from the phone line.

[Operator]

Yes, please go ahead, sir.

[Zhichen Lin, executive]

So this question is from Rajesh Panjwani from JPMorgan. And the question is, when do you expect e-commerce competition to ease?

I think that's a very good question. From the if you look at the competitive landscape right now, mainly there's one international player that has been using big subsidies to take market share. And I think even though it's quite intense, momo has been able to sustain its revenue sort of relatively -- essentially, we are able to revenue in a relatively low decline. With that said, it's very hard to predict this international player, how much firepower they are willing to allocate to Taiwan in order to take even more market share and also how much they're willing to subsidize the market to gain that market share.

But all in all, I think it's not a bad thing for the market because through these subsidies, if you look at the latest quarter number, the overall retail is not growing, but e-commerce is growing much faster than the overall retail, so which means that e-commerce is taking market share from traditional retail. So I think this international player is educating consumers and helping consumers move more of their spending to e-commerce, which is a good thing for the e-commerce industry as a whole.

So it's both good and bad. So if they were to wake up tomorrow and say they will stop subsidizing the industry, I'm not sure if that's going to be the best thing for momo either. So yes, so we're not sure if -- what kind of strategy they will undertake for 2026. But either way, we're going to make lemon juice out of it.

So Rajesh, I hope that answers your question. Operator, we can check if we got more questions from the telephone line.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions]

[Zhichen Lin, executive]

So operator, if we don't have any further questions, we'd like to wrap up today's program. But before that, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all your support in the Extel survey, which will kick off this Friday, and we truly appreciate your continued recognition of our efforts, and I look forward to your kind endorsement again this year.

And so with that, I think that's a wrap for today's earnings call, and I look forward to -- everyone, please stay joined, and I look forward to seeing you again 3 months from now.

[Operator]

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Lin. Thank you for your participation. This concludes our conference. Goodbye.