China Telecom net profit hits $2.11 bln in 2009
Shanghai. March 23. INTERFAX-CHINA - China Telecommunications Corp. (China Telecom) reported a net profit of RMB 14.42 billion ($2.11 billion) for 2009, beating industry expectations, according to the operator's financial results released on March 22.
China Telecom generated revenues of RMB 209.37 billion ($30.67 billion) for 2009, up 12.2 percent year-on-year, of which fixed-line services generated RMB 78.43 billion ($11.49 billion) in revenue, an 18.5 percent slide on annual basis. Wireless services contributed revenues of RMB 20.03 billion ($2.93 billion) during the same period, surging 406.4 percent from 2008.
Mobile Internet services generated revenues of RMB 51.57 billion ($7.56 billion), while value-added services generated revenues of 16.25 billion ($2.38 billion), up 26.6 percent and 32.5 percent year-on-year, respectively.
China Telecom currently has a mobile user base of 56.09 million, up 101 percent year-on-year, and a fixed-line user base of 189 million, a 9.5 percent year-on-year drop. The operator's broadband subscriber base increased by 20.8 percent to 53.46 million.
According to the operator's chairman and chief executive officer (CEO), Wang Xiaochu, the company aims to attract 30 million new mobile subscribers, of which 8 million will be 3G subscribers, in 2010.
-YXY