China Mobile 2007 net profit up 31.9%

[photopress:it_china_mobile.jpg,full,alignright]China Mobile is so large it is impossible to imagine it getting larger. Yet it is and as as result its net profit rose 31.9% last year to RMB87.06 billion on strong subscriber growth, new business and airtime usage.

The earnings beat the forecasts of analysts.

China Mobile said the total number of subscribers stood at 369.34 million as of end-December as it generated a total net increase of 68.11 million subscribers for the whole of last year.

The average net monthly increase in subscriber numbers was over 5.67 million.

It said the total airtime usage for the year reached 1.82 trillion minutes and the monthly average airtime minutes used per customer was 455 minutes.

Average revenue per user per month (ARPU) was maintained at RMB89. The company did not provide comparative figures for 2006.

China Mobile said its value-added business registered strong growth, with revenue from this business accounting for 25.7% of the group's total operating revenue.

China Mobile said the company is intensifying its push to develop the corporate customer market using different initiatives, including an expansion of the corporate customer base and further expansion of its corporate customer relations services.
Source: Forbes