TAIPEI, Taiwan, Aug. 28 /Xinhua-PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd (TAIEX: 2412; NYSE: CHT) ('Chunghwa' or 'the Company'), today reported its consolidated operating results for the first six months of 2008. All figures were prepared in accordance with ROC GAAP.

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    (Comparisons, unless otherwise stated, are with the prior year period)
    Financial Highlights for 1H08:
    -- Total consolidated revenue increased by 5.4% to NT$100.9 billion
    -- Internet and data revenue grew by 1.8%; ADSL & FTTB revenue increased
       by 0.8%
    -- Mobile revenue decreased by 1.2%; Mobile VAS revenue increased by 31.7%
    -- Net income totaled NT$23.2 billion, a decrease of 5.6%
    -- Basic earnings per share (EPS) increased by 5.2% to NT$2.43
    Financial Highlights for 2Q08:
    -- Total consolidated revenue decreased by 0.6% to NT$50.0 billion
    -- Internet and data revenue grew by 0.8%; ADSL & FTTB revenue decreased
       by 0.7%
    -- Mobile revenue decreased by 2.7%; Mobile VAS revenue increased by 28.3%
    -- Net income totaled NT$12.5 billion, an increase of 0.1%
    -- Basic earnings per share (EPS) increased by 12.0% to NT$1.31

Revenues

Chunghwa's total consolidated revenue for the first half of 2008 increased by 5.4% year-on-year to NT$100.9 billion, of which 28.5% was from fixed-line services, 35.9% was from mobile services, 24.6% was from Internet and data services, and the remaining 11.0% was from other revenues, including handset sales of Chunghwa and SENAO. Revenue growth for the full six month period in 1H 2008 was mainly due to the consolidation of the Senao subsidiary, as only 2.5 months of Senao's operational results were included in CHT's consolidated 1H 2007 financials. In addition, the Internet and data businesses were a positive contribution. At NT$24.8 billion, Internet and data revenue in 1H 2008 was 1.8% higher than in 1H 2007. This was driven by the continued total broadband subscriber base growth and broadband speed upgrades, and was partly offset by an ADSL tariff adjustment that took effect on April 1, 2008. Mobile revenue decreased by 1.2% in the first half of 2008 to NT$36.3 billion. This was mainly due to the decrease in traffic and the tariff cuts imposed by the NCC. Fixed-line revenues decreased by 3.1% to NT$28.7 billion in the first half of this year. Local revenues decreased by 2.3% year-on-year due to broadband, mobile and VoIP substitution. Mobile and VoIP substitution was largely responsible for a 5.6% domestic long distance revenue decrease. In addition, International long distance revenue declined 3.2% year-on-year primarily due to increased competition for calling card services posed by our competitors' prepaid card service and the decrease in settlement income resulting from the appreciation of new Taiwan dollars.

For the second quarter of 2008, total consolidated revenue was NT$50.0 billion, a 0.6% decrease from the same period last year. Of this, 28.7% was from fixed-line services, 36.3% was from mobile services and 24.5% was from Internet and data services, and over half of the remainder 10.5% were mainly attributed to the consolidation of revenue from SENAO.

Costs and expenses

For 1H 2008, total operating costs and expenses increased year-on-year by 4.9% to NT$68.6 billion, due primarily to the operating costs and expenses from subsidiaries, especially SENAO. For the parent company, total operating costs and expenses decreased by NT$0.42 billion, representing a year-over-year decrease of 0.7%. The decrease was primarily from decreased personnel and depreciation expenses.

For the second quarter of 2008, total operating costs and expenses decreased by 2.7%, mainly from declines in personnel expenses and depreciation, since the Company has not provided an early retirement program this year up to now and therefore incurred no related expenses.

Income tax

Income taxes for 1H 2008 were NT$7.0 billion, an increase of 8.8% compared to NT$6.4 billion for 1H 2007.