HONG KONG: China Mobile, the world's largest mobile operator by subscribers, said Thursday its net profit rose 6.3 percent in the first half of 2011 on sharp growth in its wireless data services business.
The firm posted a net profit of 61.3 billion yuan ($9.6 billion) in the six months to the end of June, compared to 57.8 billion yuan a year ago, it said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange, where it is listed.
The net profit was higher than the average 60.5 billion forecast of eight analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires.
China Mobile -- which competes with China Unicom and China Telecom -- said it has seen "notable growth" in its customer base, with the addition of 32.77 million to more than 610 million accounts in the first six months.
The company said its operating revenue also rose 8.8 percent over the same period last year to 250.1 billion yuan, one-third of which was contributed by its value-added businesses, which include games, music downloads and payment systems.
Revenue from its wireless data business meanwhile jumped 42.8 percent to 19.3 billion yuan, which China Mobile said has become an "important driver" of its growth.
"Wireless data business grew rapidly and continued to demonstrate high growth momentum," the company said in the statement.
It said its 3G business, which is operated based on the home-grown TD-SCDMA standards, also grew rapidly and continued to claim the top spot in China's 3G market with 35.03 million customers.
The company said its average revenue per user, a key telecoms industry barometer to measure long-term growth rates, fell to 70 yuan from 72 yuan from the same period a year ago.
The telco giant said it will continue to promote the operation of 3G networks and accelerate the worldwide development of its home-grown candidate for the 4G standard, known as the TD-LTE technology.
"We will look for appropriate investment opportunities in an active but cautious manner to broaden our presence in the telecommunications market," its chairman Wang Jianzhou said.
Shares in China Mobile closed down 0.60 percent at HK$75.15 ($9.64) in Hong Kong on Thursday.
Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011
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