China Telecom : First-Half Net Profit Rose 0.3%

By Martin Mou

China Telecom Corp.'s net profit for the first half of the year inched up on stronger operating revenue.

The telecom operator's net profit rose 0.3% from a year earlier to 13.95 billion yuan ($2.01 billion), it said Tuesday.

Operating revenue increased 1.7% to CNY193.80 billion, while service revenue, the company's largest source of income, climbed 2.5% to CNY187.11 billion, the mobile carrier said.

China Telecom said the average revenue per user for mobile users has stabilized and risen from the second half of last year.

The company, which had 37.84 million 5G users as of the first half, said it expects substantial growth potential from new infrastructure, including 5G services and data centers.

The state-owned company said it won't pay an interim dividend this year.

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