[THE INVESTOR] Korea’s No. 3 mobile carrier LG Uplus said on May 4 its first-quarter net profit decreased 12.8 percent from a year earlier.

Net profit came to 115.5 billion won (US$107 million) compared to 132.5 billion won the previous year, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Operating profit also shed 7.5 percent over the cited period to 187.8 billion won. Sales edged up 3.4 percent to reach 2.97 trillion won in the January-March period.

LG Uplus said its earnings lost ground due to further monthly discounts provided to users.

By sector, the wireless division posted sales of 1.3 trillion won, with the average revenue per user reaching 33,355 won in the first quarter, down 3.7 percent from a quarter earlier.

LG Uplus said the number of subscribers to LTE services came to 12.4 million, accounting for 92.8 percent of combined wireless users.

As for fixed-line services, the segment posted sales of 949.1 billion won, up 3.7 percent from a year earlier on the back of rising demand for home media, including IPTV.

Due to gains for child-oriented services, LG Uplus said the number of subscribers to its IPTV services came to 3.67 million, up 14.9 percent from a year earlier.

By Song Seung-hyun and newswires (ssh@heraldcorp.com)