China Telecom's H1 profit jumps 7%, revenue up 4%

China Telecom reported operating revenues of CNY 184.1 billion in the first half of 2017, which represents an increase of 4.1 percent year-on-year. Service revenues amounted to CNY 165.8 billion, up 6.8 percent compared to the year-earlier period. EBITDA amounted to CNY 52.4 billion, up 3.7 percent year-on-year, while EBITDA margin stood at 31.6 percent at 30 June 2017. Net profit reached CNY 12.5 billion, representing an increase of 7.4 percent over the same period of 2016.

Capital expenditure was CNY 41.1 billion, while free cash flow reached CNY 7.2 billion at 30 June. Mobile handset internet access revenue was the top revenue growth driver of the company, increasing 35 percent year-on-year. Total revenues from the ecosphere of Smart Family, new ICT applications, IoT and Internet Finance jumped 23 percent over the same period of 2016. 

China Telecom saw a net increase of mobile subscribers of 14.85 million, reaching a total of 230 million and market share increased to 16.8 percent. The net increase of 4G users was 30.15 million, reaching a total of 152 million. Market share increased to 17.2 percent, while the penetration rate of 4G users climbed to 66 percent. The aggregate handset internet data traffic jumped by 126 percent compared to the same period last year while the DOU of 4G users reached 1.4GB, representing an increase of 56 percent over the first half of 2016.

The net increase of wireline broadband subscribers was 4.98 million, reaching a total of 128 million at 30 June 2017. The net increase of FTTH subscribers was 11.24 million, reaching a total of 117 million while the penetration rate stood at 92 percent.