Telefonos de Mexico SA, Mexico’s dominant fixed-line phone operator, said Tuesday that profits fell 13 percent in the second quarter amid stronger competition.

Telmex, which is owned by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, reported net profits fell to 6.2 billion pesos (US$612 million) for the quarter, compared with 7.1 billion pesos (US$701 million) in the same period last year.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, dropped 7.5 percent to 14.4 billion pesos (US$1.4 billion).

Sales were 30.9 billion pesos (US$3 billion), down 6.3 percent from 33 billion pesos (US$3 billion at 2007 rates) in the year-ago quarter.

Telmex, which controls more than 90 percent of fixed lines in the country, said it had 17.7 million lines in service as of June 30, a drop of 3 percent from last year. Local traffic, meanwhile, fell by 10.3 percent.

“Local traffic volume was affected by competition from local and cellular telephony and by managed networks,” Telmex said.

Telmex’s U.S.-traded shares were down 0.55 percent to US$24.63 in after-hours trading Tuesday. Earlier, the stock closed the regular session on the New York Stock Exchange at down nearly 1 percent at US$24.77.