China Telecom (00728) rose more than 3% and rose 3.44% to HK$4.51 at press time, with a turnover of HK$273 million.
The Zhitong Finance App learned that China Telecom (00728) rose by more than 3% and rose 3.44% to HK$4.51 at press time, with a turnover of HK$273 million.
In terms of performance, the company's performance for the year ended December 31, 2023. In 2023, the company's operating revenue was 513.6 billion yuan (RMB, same below), up 6.7% year on year; service revenue was 465 billion yuan, up 6.9% year on year, and continued to grow for 11 consecutive years. EBITDA was 136.8 billion yuan, up 5% year over year. Profit attributable to shareholders was RMB 30.446 billion, up 10.3% year on year, and basic net profit per share was RMB 0.33. Damo believes that the results and performance statements are close to market expectations, and there is no surprise. However, it is determined to maintain steady profit growth, and plans to raise the dividend rate to 75% by 2026, making its 2024 dividend rate of about 7% attractive.
The bank estimates that China Telecom's service revenue and net profit this year increased by 6.3% and 7.5% respectively. The growth rate is slower than in 2023. The revenue from industrial digitization services is expected to increase 14%, which is also slower than the 18% increase in 2023. Tianyi Cloud's revenue increased by about 68% year-on-year to 97.2 billion yuan last year, falling short of the 100 billion yuan guideline. The company emphasized that the quality of the cloud business comes first, and China Telecom will not participate in the price reduction war. Furthermore, China Telecom's capital expenditure guidance for this year is a 2.9% year-on-year decrease, which is less than the 4.4% and 12% declines of China Mobile (00941) and China Unicom (00762). Damo also predicts that China Telecom's dividend payout rate will increase by 2 percentage points each year starting this year, driving a compound annual growth rate of 10% per share in 2024-26.