NewChina’s ZTE 2014 net profit soars 94 per cent on smartphones, 4G rollout

Chinese telecom equipment maker ZTE Corp posted a 94 per cent rise in 2014 net profit on Wednesday, in line with its own forecast, due to strength in its smartphone business overseas and high-speed 4G network division at home.

The Shenzhen-based company recorded profit of 2.63 billion yuan (US$423.4 million) from 1.36 billion yuan a year earlier, in line with the company’s forecast of 2.6 billion yuan. Operating revenue rose 8.3 per cent to 81.4 billion yuan.

ZTE is expanding its handset business overseas, bringing about a more than 50 per cent rise in global marketing expenses for 2015. The company aims to become a top 3 smartphone vendor in the United States by 2017, where its smartphone shipments jumped more than 50 per cent in 2014.

ZTE is also benefiting from the adoption of fourth-generation mobile networks in China, where the company could build up to half a million 4G base stations in 2015, according to Phillip Capital.

ZTE and rival equipment vendor Huawei Technologies Co Ltd each won over 25 per cent of the $3.2 billion 4G tender of No.1 mobile carrier, China Mobile Ltd.

ZTE’s Hong Kong-listed shares closed 0.4 per cent higher on Wednesday, versus a 0.5 per cent rise in the benchmark Hang Seng Index.