not vested
Mobile giant hit by cost and market pressuresby Stella Zhai
Net profit at China Mobile (0941) for the six months ended June dropped by 14.59 percent from a year ago to 56.06 billion yuan (HK$62.4 billion).
The biggest mobile operator in the mainland declared an interim dividend of HK$1.527 per share - 16.37 percent lower than the same period last year.
Revenue for the first half slid by 0.61 percent to 389.4 billion yuan, and revenue from telecommunications services decreased by 1.3 percent to 354.1 billion yuan.
The company's average revenue per user for its mobile business dropped by 10.2 percent year on year to 52.2 yuan, and the ARPU for 4G users also decreased by 9.6 percent to 58.2 yuan.
The decrease in net profit was mainly attributed to intensifying competition within the telecommunications industry and from cross-sector players in the first half and an increase in operating costs, said the mobile operator.
The telecom's total number of mobile customers was 935 million as of June 30, representing a net addition of 9.98 million.
The total number of wireline broadband customers, meanwhile, saw a net increase of 18.2 million to 175 million.
China Mobile gave laser pens as souvenirs to reporters and analysts who attended yesterday's conference.
That came just two days after Keith Fong Chung-yin, Baptist University Students' Union president, was arrested by police for buying 10 laser points in Sham Shui Po.
Chairman Yang Jie said that whether a laser pointer can be considered an offensive weapon depends on how people use it.
The company plans to invest 24 billion yuan in its 5G infrastructure this year, and to build 50,000 base towers among 50 cities in China, but the total investment would be limited to 106 billion yuan.
Li Yue, chief executive of China Mobile, said that the company will definitely participate in the auctions of the 5G spectrum in 3.3 GHz, 3.5 GHz and 4.9 GHz bands, which were announced by the Hong Kong government in July.
Executive vice president Jian Qin, meanwhile, mentioned that the company will launch new monthly service plans by the end of August at the earliest, as the company found in a survey that customers are mostly unsatisfied with speed limitations speed in existing plans.
Source: The Standard
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/section-n ... 0809&sid=2
It's all about "how much you made when you were right" & "how little you lost when you were wrong"