Geneva - Swisscom, the Alpine nation's main telecommunications company, reported Wednesday a 14.1 per cent rise in profits in the first quarter, to 485 million Swiss francs (427.5 million dollars).

The profits came on slightly decreased net revenue, which dropped 0.6 per cent to 2.9 billion francs.

Swisscom said it still expected a slowdown this year but to have a revenues of between 9.2 billion and 9.3 billion francs, as analysts had expected.

The company, based in Bern, Switzerland's capital, grew its customer base for both its broadband access services and its satellite television business.

Net revenue for Fastweb in Italy, owned by Swisscom, increased year-on-year by 14.1 per cent, to 444 million euros, on customer growth.