(Telecompaper) NTT Docomo posted a small drop in results for the first nine months of its fiscal year, but reiterated its forecast for growth over the full year, as it maintains its focus on selling more smartphones and associated services. Revenues for the nine months to December were down 0.2 percent from a year earlier to JPY 3.363 trillion, as stronger customer growth could not offset heavy discounts offered to fight off competition. The group targets an improvement in the final quarter to reach 3.8 percent sales growth over the full year. Despite already exceeding its annual target for cost reductions, operating profit in the nine months fell 1.9 percent to JPY 688.7 billion. The Japanese operator said it plans more efficiency measures, as it targets a JPY 2.8 billion rise in annual operating profit. Net profit for the nine months was up 3.3 percent to JPY 430.2 billion and is forecast to grow 3.9 percent over the full year. The company accelerated net subscriber additions to 410,000 in the fiscal third quarter, including 279,000 in December alone, helped by the start of iPhone sales last September. However, discoutn campaigns led to a drop in ARPU to JPY 4,570 over the nine months, versus JPY 4,890 a year ago. For the spring sales season, Docomo said it plans to target the youth market and families more, as well as continue its focus on expanding LTE users, improving its channels and after-sales support and adding revenues through news services such as dmarket.