Telefonica Moviles of Spain, one of the world's leading wireless operators, said on Thursday that its first quarter net profit rose 3.5 percent, thanks to strong business in Latin America

Madrid-based Moviles said its net profit rose to 447 million euros (571.22 million U.S. dollars) in the three months to March 31 from 2005's 432.1 million euros (552.18 million dollars). Its revenue also rose to 4.33 billion euros (5.53 billion dollars) from 3.68 billion euros (469.99 billion dollars) a year earlier, up 11.7 percent.

The company said that its client base had grown 21 percent over the past year to 98.5 million, 74 million of which were in Latin America, where the company invested heavily in GSM wireless networks.

However, Moviles' revenue in Spain, the company's top market by sales, was up just 4.4 percent to 2.17 billion euros (2.77 billion dollars) due to strong competition from its rivals Vodafone and Amena, a unit of France Telecom.

Source: Xinhua