New customers spending more on data have boosted revenue for Optus, but the telco continues to be outpaced by Telstra.
The nation's second largest telco achieved a six per cent rise in revenue in the three months to December, as it added 100,000 mobile customers to 8.25 million.
Data revenue rose 12 per cent, as more customers moved to the company's 4G network and new handsets, including the iPhone 6, were released.
But the company's net profit in the third quarter of its fiscal year of $208 million was down eight per cent from a year ago, due to higher finance expenses and the impact of a lower Australian dollar on its income from a trans-pacific submarine cable network operator.
Over the six months to December, Optus added 165,000 mobile customers, which compares to Telstra's 366,000.
Telstra achieved its strongest mobile revenue growth in three years in that six month period, to $5.3 billion.
Optus chief executive Alan Lew said the company's strategy of improving customer service and delivering new products, such as data sharing across several devices, was delivering results.
Mobile revenue at Optus is up 1.6 per cent in the nine months to December, and parent company Singtel expects that to remain in low single digits for the year to March 31.
OPTUS CUSTOMERS SPENDING MORE
* Quarterly net profit of $208m, down 8.2 pct from $227m in 2013/14
* Revenue of $2.29b, up six pct from $2.16b
* Earnings of $335m, up 4.1 pct from $322m
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