Jinwu Financial News | China Telecom (00728) announced that in the first quarter of 2024, profit attributable to shareholders was RMB 8.597 billion, an increase of 7.68% over the same period last year, with basic earnings of RMB 0.09 per share.
During the period, operating revenue was RMB 135.493 billion, an increase of 3.76% over the same period last year; of these, service revenue was RMB 124.347 billion, an increase of 5.0% over the same period last year. EBITDA was RMB 35.10 billion, up 3.6% from the same period last year, and the EBITDA rate was 28.2%. The company's industrial digitization business revenue reached RMB 38.679 billion, an increase of 10.6% over the previous year.
During the period, mobile communication service revenue reached RMB 52,226 billion, up 3.2% year on year, with a net increase of 3.88 million mobile users, reaching 412 million, and a net increase of 10.06 million 5G package users, reaching 329 million households, with a penetration rate of 79.9%. The ARPU for mobile users was RMB 45.8 billion, up 0.9% from last year.
During the period, the company's fixed network and smart home service revenue reached RMB 31,824 billion, up 2.2% year on year, cable broadband users reached 192 million households, and smart home revenue increased 10.4% year on year, driving the comprehensive broadband ARPU5 to RMB 48.6, an increase of 2.1% over last year, and the value contribution of smart homes continued to increase.
In the first quarter of 2024, the company's operating expenses were RMB 124.941 billion, up 3.6% from the same period last year, of which network operation and support costs were RMB 41,350 billion, up 6.6% from the same period last year. The main reason was that the company continued to improve cloud network service quality and capabilities, support the rapid development of industrial digitalization and smart home businesses, and moderately increase capacity investment; labor costs were RMB 28.788 billion, an increase of 4.8% over the same period last year, mainly due to the company increasing the introduction of technology-based and innovative talents and incentives for frontline employees and high-performing teams . Net financial costs were RMB 144 million, down 51.0% from the same period last year, mainly due to lower interest expenses on rental liabilities.