KDDI Q1 profit drops 12 pct, keeps growth f'cast

TOKYO, July 22 (Reuters) - KDDI Corp (9433.T), Japan's second-biggest phone company, on Tuesday reported a 12 percent drop in its quarterly profit due to higher marketing costs, but it kept its double-digit growth target for the full year.

KDDI, which competes with NTT DoCoMo (9437.T) and Softbank Corp (9984.T) in Japan's mature mobile market, said its operating profit came to 124.37 billion yen ($1.17 billion) in the three months ended June against 140.9 billion yen a year earlier.

For the year to March, KDDI stuck to its profit forecast of 443 billion yen, up 10.6 percent from 2007/08.

That compares with 458 billion yen profit 16 analysts expected on average, according to Reuters Estimates.

KDDI has been struggling to get new customers for its "au" mobile phone services and at the same time grappling with rising marketing costs and losses on its fixed-line phone business, a market in which it trails Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (9432.T).

Shares in KDDI rose 7.7 percent in the three months to June 30, outperforming a 4.1 percent rise in the Tokyo Stock Exchange's information and communication index .ICOMS.T. (Reporting by Sachi Izumi)