UPDATE 2-Indonesia's Telkom Q1 net falls, sees revenue up

* Q1 net profit down 22 percent, Q1 revenue down 2 percent

* Shares fall after earnings worse than expected

* Telkom optimistic can post single digit growth in 2009 revenue

By Tyagita Silka and Andreas Ismar

JAKARTA, May 11 (Reuters) - PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk (TLKM.JK), Indonesia's largest telecoms firm, reported a weaker-than-expected 22 percent fall in first-quarter net profit, although forecast higher 2009 revenue despite tighter competition.

Telkom, Indonesia's largest listed firm with a $14.8 billion market value, has been hit by new entrants into the mobile market, where operators have been forced to spend more on promotions and reduce their charges, leading to lower average revenue per user, analysts said.

"The first quarter result was about 5 percent below the market's consensus," said Harry Su, equity analyst at Bahana Securities.

Su said that campaigning for parliamentary elections in April did not appear to have boosted mobile usage in Southeast Asia's biggest economy by as much as expected, although he said Telkom should achieve 4-5 percent net profit growth this year.

Telkom said its net profit for January-March was 2.5 trillion rupiah ($241.1 million), down from 3.21 trillion rupiah a year ago, while revenue fell 2 percent to 14.7 trillion rupiah.

"The financial performance of Telkom was affected by foreign currency losses and lower tariffs, compared to a year ago when tariffs in the first quarter were still favourable," president director Firmansyah said in a statement.

Telkom said revenue from its mobile phone operations rose 9.2 percent to 6.5 trillion rupiah in the first quarter, but it did not give a figure for average revenue per user.

But the firm said 2008 average revenue per user fell 26.9 percent to 59,000 rupiah a month from a year ago.

Telkom controls 65 percent of PT Telekomunikasi Selular (Telkomsel), the largest mobile phone operator in the country.

PT Indosat Tbk (ISAT.JK), Indonesia's second-biggest mobile phone firm and Telkomsel's main competitor, posted an 82.4 percent drop in its first-quarter net profit last month, hit by the rupiah's 5 percent fall versus the dollar in the quarter.

Shares in state-controlled Telkom fell 1.3 percent to 7,500 rupiah by the midday break, underperforming a 1 percent rise in the overall market .JKSE.

Telkom also announced a 17.4 percent fall in 2008 full-year net profit to 10.6 trillion rupiah, against 12.86 trillion rupiah in 2007 and a forecast of 11.63 trillion rupiah.