China Unicom reported net profit for 2015 down 12.4 percent to CNY 19.56 billion. Excluding a gain of CNY 9.25 billion on the spin-off of its towers in a joint venture, net profit was down 69.9 percent to CNY 3.63 billion. Revenues fell 2.7 percent to CNY 277.05 billion, as mobile service revenue dropped 8.0 percent to CNY 142.62 billion, offsetting growth of 3.1 percent in the fixed market to CNY 91.26 billion. EBITDA declined 5.7 percent to CNY 87.50 billion.
Unicom said the "challenging business environment" put sales and profit under pressure, and it focused on its 4G offfers and 100 Mbps fixed broadband and video services to offset the weak market. The operator reported accelerating growth in 4G subscribers in the first months of 2016, with 5.27 million added in January and 5.38 million in February, compared to total net additions of 3.87 million in Q4. In December 2015, 4G customers generated ARPU of CNY 87.8 and average data use of 1.2 GB, higher than the CNY 40.8 and 696 MB across all customers in 2015.
China Unicom said it targets an improvement in results next year, helped by the cost savings from the towers joint venture. It is still negotiating the tower usage fee with the new company. Capital expenditure is expected to drop to CNY 75 billion this year from CNY 133.9 billion in 2015. Around 280,000 4G base stations should be added, for a total 680,000.
