China Telecom, the mainland's dominant mobile-telephone operator, will announce a profit of between 9.1 billion yuan (about HK$8.51 billion) and 11.2 billion yuan tomorrow, according to analysts.
The projected earnings would represent a growth rate of between 31.8 per cent and 62.3 per cent over 1998's net earnings of 6.9 billion yuan.
ABN Amro Securities forecast China Telecom's profit would be 11.2 billion yuan, while Goldman Sachs projected 9.1 billion yuan and Credit Lyonnais Securities 9.7 billion yuan.
The three brokerage houses all said China Telecom would continue to enjoy strong growth, as the mainland was the world's fastest-growing telecommunications market.
ABN Amro analyst Joseph Locke said the number of mainland mobile-phone users was expected to grow to about 200 million in 2004 from about 45 million last year.
The fast-growing mobile market could support at least three operators, implying that competition from China United Telecommunication need not stunt China Telecom's growth, Mr Locke said.
