China's largest telecom service provider, China Mobile Ltd, said its first-half net profit edged up 5.6 percent, its first interim profit rise in three years, as growth from lucrative 4G services helped it fend off stiff competition.
Beijing-based China Mobile said on Thursday net profit for the half rose to 60.6 billion yuan ($9.13 billion) from 57.3 billion yuan a year earlier. Revenue grew 7.1 percent to 370.4 billion yuan.
"China Mobile has focused its promotional efforts towards 4G upgrades and this campaign has successfully attracted a significant number of 2G/3G customers," Chairman Shang Bing said in the filing.
China Mobile's customers of the more lucrative 4G services more than doubled in the first half to 429 million from a year earlier, according to Reuters' calculations based on data provided by the company. Like smaller peers China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd and China Telecom Corp Ltd, China Mobile has faced a squeeze in recent years from internet-based messaging services like Tencent Holdings Ltd's WeChat, which ate into carriers' revenue from voice calls and short messages.
China's 4G penetration ratio grew to 45 percent in June from 32 percent in December, Nomura analyst Leping Huang wrote in a research note before the earnings were published.