China Mobile widens lead in mainland telecoms market with strong interim earnings growth
Operator posted 5.6pc rise in net profit to 60.6 billion yuan. Operating revenue jumps 7.1pc to 370.3 billion yuan
China Mobile, the world’s largest wireless network operator, plans to accelerate 4G adoption by its subscribers this year and sees Apple’s iPhone helping it attract more high-end users, after reporting steady interim earnings growth.
“We expect 4G competition to intensify in the second half of this year, so we need to maintain our competitive advantage,” China Mobile chairman Shang Bing said in a press conference on Thursday.
The operator attributed the “encouraging” earnings expansion to its market-leading operating revenue, which rose 7.1 per cent to 370.3 billion yuan in the first half from 345.7 billion yuan a year ago.
Wireless data traffic also became its biggest source of revenue, with a 39.7 per cent year on year jump to 140.9 billion yuan.
“We generated the largest operating revenue in the first half of 2016 amongst our industry peers,” Shang said, adding it also outperformed them on profitability.