America Movil second quarter profit jumps 32.7%

Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim's America Movil telecommunications provider reported a 32.7 percent jump in the second quarter thanks to reduced financing costs and a lower exchange rate.
The company increased its profit to 18.8 billion pesos ($1.5 billion, 1.1 billion euros) in the months from April to June, and revenue also went up four percent to 202.6 billion pesos, according to a company financial report released Monday.
America Movil is a leader in Latin America's telecom market, with nearly 270 million mobile subscribers, 31.6 million fixed lines and 20 million broadband accesses.
But it was forced to announce the sale of a portion of its assets in Mexico this month after a telecommunications reform that aimed to reduce the power of the dominant companies in the sector and promote competition.
America Movil, which currently controls 80 percent of landlines and 70 percent of cellphone lines in Mexico, is set to reduce below 50 percent its participation in the country's telephone market.
At the same time, the company is increasing its presence in the European market.
Last week, America Movil announced a bigger stake at 50.8 percent to take majority control of Telekom Austria after a $1 billion buyout of minority shareholders.