* Earnings jump 51 pct to 18.681 billion pesos
* Company adds 4 million subscribers in quarter
* Revenue up 17 percent, driven by Internet
(Adds detail on results, background, quote, byline)
By Noel Randewich
MEXICO CITY, Oct 26 (Reuters) - America Movil, the largest
cellphone operator in Latin America, posted a 51 percent rise
in third-quarter net profit on Monday due to a pickup in new
subscribers and lower financing costs.
America Movil (AMXL.MX)(AMX.N), controlled by billionaire
Carlos Slim, said it earned 18.681 billion pesos ($1.38
billion) in the July-September period.
The company signed up 4.0 million new clients in the third
quarter, slightly fewer than forecast in a Reuters poll of
analysts.
Quarterly revenue rose 17 percent, year over year, to
99.762 billion pesos, driven by strong growth in Internet and
other third-generation services, America Movil said in a
statement.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and
amortization totaled 40.4 billion pesos, up 16 percent from the
same quarter in 2008 and slightly beating forecasts.
America Movil is betting heavily on Internet-oriented
products, promoting smartphones and selling cheap laptop
computers and modems on monthly payment plans.
It said sales from data services such as text messages and
Internet grew an average of 58 percent in its various markets
during the quarter.
"Data continued to be the major driver of revenue growth as
the 3G services that for the most part our subsidiaries started
offering last year met strong demand from our clients," America
Movil said.
Financing costs fell 83 percent year over year to 653
million pesos, helped by movements in several currencies.
The company, which has operations from the United States to
Argentina and competes regionally with Spain's Telefonica SA
(TEF.MC), ended September with 198 million clients.
Client growth was led by Brazil, with 1.8 million net
additions, followed by America Movil's Tracfone operator in the
United States, with 712,000. Mexico added 280,000 net new
clients.
Client additions were stronger in the third quarter than in
the April-June period, but still far below the 7.3 million net
new subscribers picked up in the third quarter of last year.
America Movil shares rose 1.22 percent to 30.69 pesos ahead
of the earnings report.
Latin Americans in well-heeled neighborhoods such as Sao
Paulo's Jardins and Mexico City's Polanco are increasingly
surfing the Internet on Research in Motion Ltd's (RIM.TO)
BlackBerries and Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) iPhones. But most people
in the region continue to use much less expensive handsets on
pay-as-you-go plans.
($1=13.5035 pesos at end-Sept)
(Reporting by Noel Randewich, editing by Leslie Gevirtz,
Matthew Lewis and Andre Grenon)
