Satellite broadcaster Wowow Inc. said Wednesday it climbed back into the black in fiscal 2002 due to a sharp reduction in promotional costs.
The firm reported a decline in subscriptions, however.
Wowow posted a group net profit of 538 million yen, against a net loss of 2.14 billion yen in fiscal 2001, when startup investment in digital broadcasting services cost the company dearly.
On a pretax basis, the Wowow group turned a profit of 1.15 billion yen, compared with a year-earlier loss of 1.95 billion yen, while group operating revenue dropped 3.6 percent to 63 billion yen.
Despite returning to profitability, the company's first black ink in three years, the number of subscribers to Wowow services fell 6.3 percent to 2,498,524.
Wowow again skipped dividend payments.
For fiscal 2003, Wowow is pinning its hopes on increased subscriptions for its digital broadcasting services, particularly its core movie and sports programs.
Wowow is forecasting a group net profit of 550 million yen and operating revenue of 63 billion yen, along with the target of lifting total subscriptions to 2,555,000