Chunghwa Telecom announced its total revenue for 2023 was NT$ 223.20 billion, increasing by 3.0% year over year. Operating income was NT$ 46.35 billion, decreasing by 1.0% year over year. Income before tax decreased by 0.5% year over year to NT$ 46.99 billion. Net income attributable to stockholders of the parent company increased by 1.2% year over year to NT$ 36.92 billion, while accumulated EPS was NT$4.76, increasing by 1.2% year over year. In addition, revenue, operating income, pre-tax income and EPS all exceeded the high-end of full-year guidance by achieving 100.2%~100.9% for revenue, 100.8%~103.8% for operating income, 100.9%~104.7% for pre-tax income and 102.3%~106.8% for EPS.

Mr. Shui-Yi Kuo, Chairman and CEO of Chunghwa Telecom, stated, “In 2023, our total revenue and accumulated earnings exceeded the high-end target of our full-year guidance, hitting a six-year high and achieved year-over-year growth for four consecutive years.  As three Business Groups made all-out efforts on developing business, mobile service revenue increased by 6.4% year over year, mobile subscriber market share continued to lead the industry and mobile post-paid ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) increased steadily. Fixed broadband ARPU also achieved continued growth and ICT service revenue reached nearly double-digit growth, resulting in the outstanding performance of 2023. The Company appreciated for the collaboration and efforts of all employees for their contribution to the encouraging performance.” 

The unaudited consolidated revenue of December increased by 5.9% year over year to NT$ 22.19 billion. Operating income decreased by 19.0% year over year to NT$ 2.88 billion and income before tax decreased by 15.7% to NT$ 2.92 billion. Net income attributable to stockholders of the parent company decreased by 16.0% year over year to NT$ 2.28 billion and EBITDA decreased by 9.8% to NT$ 6.18 billion. EPS was NT$0.30. The revenue of December was also the highest monthly revenue since January 2022. Operating income, income before tax and net income attributable to stockholders of the parent company decreased year over year, mainly due to the asset impairment loss of telecom equipment caused by the phase-out of 3G network and the impairment loss of investment property. However, the aforementioned one-time impairment loss does not result in cash outflows and the Company's future operating performance is not affected.

Chunghwa Telecom stated that ICT business revenue exceeded double-digit growth year over year in December. AIoT revenue delivered a double-digit YoY growth owing to the recognition of smart meter and smart building projects. IDC and cloud revenue exceeded 60% YoY growth mainly due to the recognition of cloud system and IDC projects.

In addition, mobile business continued its upward trend as mobile service revenue hit a record high with 4.6% YoY growth and reached a 33-month consecutive growth. The market-leading quality of mobile network  continued to drive up subscriber number of 5G and postpaid SIMs. Mobile data revenue driven by international roaming business also contributed to the overall mobile revenue growth. Mobile post-paid ARPU increased by 2.9% year over year with a 33-month consecutive growth, while mobile post-paid churn rate remained the lowest among the peers at 0.39%.

Fixed broadband business continued to grow steadily owing to the well-received high-speed promotion package. Broadband access revenue grew by 3.8% year over year and data communication revenue grew by 2.4% year over year. In particular, Home Wi-Fi service revenue delivered a strong YoY growth about 45%. 

Chunghwa Telecom stated that, in addition to delivering an outstanding financial performance of 2023 which exceeding investors’ expectations, the Company continued to strengthen its corporate governance by following international best practices. Through adopting “Incentive Compensation Clawback Policy”, the Company stands as a pioneer in the Taiwan telecom industry and as one of the few companies in Taiwan to facilitate the Compensation Clawback Policy to further enhance interest alignment between top management and shareholders.

 

(in NT$ billion)

	2023			2022			YoY%
	Dec.	Oct.-Dec.	Jan.-Dec.	Dec.	Oct.-Dec.	Jan.-Dec.	Dec.	Oct.-Dec.	Jan.-Dec.
Revenue	22.19	61.86	223.20	20.96	59.50	216.74	5.9	4.0	3.0
Operating costs and expenses	18.67	50.77	176.21	17.50	48.64	170.01	6.7	4.4	3.6
Other income and expense (Note 1)	-0.64	-0.64	-0.64	0.10	0.10	0.09	-753.6	-743.1	-783.1
Operating income	2.88	10.45	46.35	3.56	10.96	46.82	-19.0	-4.6	-1.0
Income before tax	2.92	10.43	46.99	3.46	10.85	47.23	-15.7	-3.8	-0.5
Net income attributable to stockholders of the parent	2.28	8.26	36.92	2.72	8.40	36.48	-16.0	-1.7	1.2
EBITDA	6.18	20.38	86.01	6.85	20.84	86.25	-9.8	-2.2	-0.3
EPS(NT$)	0.30	1.06	4.76	0.35	1.08	4.70	-16.0	-1.7	1.2

Note 1: "Other income and expenses" includes gains (losses) on disposal of property, plant and equipment (PP&E) and investment property, and impairment loss on PP&E and investment property.

Note 2: The calculation of growth rates is based on NT$ thousand.

 

Financial Statements

Financial statements and additional operational data can be found on the Company’s website at http://www.cht.com.tw/en/home/cht/investors/financials/quarterly-earnings

 

NOTE CONCERNING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements constitute “forward-looking” statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as “will,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “future,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “estimates” and similar statements. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about Chunghwa’s beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. A number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. Investors are cautioned that actual events and results could differ materially from those statements as a result of a number of factors including, but not limited to the risks outlined in Chunghwa’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Forms F-1, F-3, 6-K and 20-F, in each case as amended. The forward-looking statements in this press release reflect the current belief of Chunghwa as of the date of this press release and Chunghwa undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements for events or circumstances that occur subsequent to such date, except as required under applicable law.

 

This press release is not an offer of securities for sale in the United States. Securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration. Any public offering of securities to be made in the United States will be made by means of a prospectus that may be obtained from the issuer or selling security holder and that will contain detailed information about the company and management, as well as financial statements.

 

NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

To supplement the Company’s consolidated financial statements presented in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards pursuant to the requirements of the Financial Supervisory Commission, or T-IFRSs, Chunghwa Telecom also provides EBITDA, which is a "non-GAAP financial measure”.  EBITDA is defined as consolidated net income (loss) excluding (i) depreciation and amortization, (ii) total net comprehensive financing cost (which is comprised of net interest expense, exchange gain or loss, monetary position gain or loss and other financing costs and derivative transactions), (iii) other income, net, (iv) income tax, (v) (income) loss from discontinued operations.

 

In managing the Company’s business, Chunghwa Telecom relies on EBITDA as a means of assessing its operating performance because it excludes the effect of (i) depreciation and amortization, which represents a non-cash charge to earnings, (ii) certain financing costs, which are significantly affected by external factors, including interest rates, foreign currency exchange rates and inflation rates, which have little or no bearing on our operating performance, (iii) income tax (iv) other expenses or income not related to the operation of the business. 

 

CAUTIONS ON USE OF NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

In addition to the consolidated financial results prepared under T-IFRSs, Chunghwa Telecom also provide non-GAAP financial measures, including “EBITDA”. The Company believes that the non-GAAP financial measures provide investors with another method for assessing its operating results in a manner that is focused on the performance of its ongoing operations.

 

Chunghwa Telecom’s management believes investors will benefit from greater transparency in referring to these non-GAAP financial measures when assessing the Company’s operating results, as well as when forecasting and analyzing future periods. However, the Company recognizes that:

  ● these non-GAAP financial measures are limited in their usefulness and should be considered only as a supplement to the Company’s T-IFRSs financial measures;

  ● these non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered in isolation from, or as a substitute for, the Company’s T-IFRSs financial measures;

  ● these non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered to be superior to the Company’s T-IFRSs financial measures; and

  ● these non-GAAP financial measures were not prepared in accordance with T-IFRSs and investors should not assume that the non-GAAP financial measures presented in this earnings release were prepared under a comprehensive set of rules or principle.

Further, these non-GAAP financial measures may be unique to Chunghwa Telecom, as they may be different from non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies. As such, this presentation of non-GAAP financial measures may not enhance the comparability of the Company’s results to the results of other companies. Readers are cautioned not to view non-GAAP results as a substitute for results under T-IFRSs, or as being comparable to results reported or forecasted by other companies.

 

About Chunghwa Telecom

Chunghwa Telecom (TAIEX 2412, NYSE: CHT) (“Chunghwa” or “the Company”) is Taiwan’s largest integrated telecommunications services company that provides fixed-line, mobile, broadband, and internet services. The Company also provides information and communication technology services to corporate customers with its big data, information security, cloud computing and IDC capabilities, and is expanding its business into innovative technology services such as IoT, AI, etc. Chunghwa has been actively and continuously implemented environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives with the goal to achieve sustainability and has won numerous international and domestic awards and recognitions for its ESG commitments and best practices. For more information, please visit our website at www.cht.com.tw