apan's top telecommunications company Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. said Tuesday its group net profit surged 32 percent in fiscal 2007 on booming long distance and international communications business.
Tokyo-based NTT's profit for the fiscal year ended March rose to 635.16 billion yen ($6.12 billion) from 481.37 billion yen a year earlier period, the company said in a release.
Group revenue at NTT for the fiscal 2007 dipped 0.7 percent to 10.681 trillion yen ($102.99 billion) from 10.76 trillion yen, while operating profit rose 18 percent to 1.304 trillion yen ($12.57 billion) from 1.107 trillion yen.
NTT posted solid growth in long distance and international communications business. The company said operating profit for the segment's solution services and Internet Protocol, or IP, based phone services through computer networks, rose 61 percent from a year ago.
NTT said it expects a net profit of 500 billion yen ($4.82 billion)for the current fiscal year through March 31, 2009.
Separately, the company announced that it will buy back up to 450,000, or 3.3 percent, of its own shares outstanding for as much as 200 billion yen ($1.93 billion) beginning Wednesday through March 24, 2009, to improve capital efficiency and flexibility.
The company's earnings are based on U.S. accounting standards.
NTT shares edged up nearly 3 percent to 448,000 yen ($4,320). The company announced earnings after trading closed on the Tokyo stock Exchange.