China Unicom 2009 Net Profit Up 22% YoY
China Unicom Press Release, 3/24/10
China Unicom (NYSE: CHU; 0762.HK; 600050.SH) has released its unaudited financial results for 2009, with net revenues reaching RMB 153.95 bln, down 3.6% YoY from RMB 159.79 bln in 2008. Telecommunications revenue was RMB 149.59 bln, down 2.1% YoY.
Excluding the effect of RMB 0.49 bln in deferred upfront fixed-line connection fees, revenue would have been 153.46 bln, with telecommunications services revenue down 1.2% YoY to 149.1 bln.
Net income for the year reached RMB 9.56 bln, up 22% YoY compared to 2008. Excluding deferred fixed-line upfront connection fees, gain on the non-monetary assets exchange, the lease fee for the telecommunications networks of 21 provinces in Southern China, realised gain on changes in fair value of derivative financial instrument, and impairment loss on Personal Handyphone System service related equipment, net income was RMB 9.61 bln, down 35.2% YoY.
During the year, the company generated revenue of RMB 72.21 bln from its mobile business, representing an increase of 9.8% over last year. Of this, service revenue accounted for RMB 69.77 bln, up 8.6% YoY. The number of mobile subscribers was 147.59 mln with a net addition of 14.22 mln.
As of the end of 2009, Unicom had 144.85 mln GSM subscribers, representing an increase of 8.6% over the previous year, with an annual net addition of 11.48 mln subscribers. Total GSM voice usage reached 423.05 bln minutes, up 12.3% YoY, while average minutes of use (AMU) was 252 minutes, up 2.3% YoY and ARPU was RMB 41.2, down 2.4% from 2008.
Revenue from wireless value-added services was RMB 19.07 bln, up 17.3% YoY and increasing from 25.3% to 27.3% of total mobile business revenue.
The total number of 3G subscribers reached 2.74 mln, 83.7% of whom were handset users. ARPU for 3G subscribers was RMB 141.7.
Excluding the effect of deferred fixed-line upfront connection fees, revenue from the fixed-line business would reach RMB 85.10 bln in 2009, of which, telecommunications service revenue would be RMB 79.06 bln, down by 8.5% compared with last year.
Of the revenue from the fixed-line business after adjustment, revenue from fixed-line broadband services was RMB 23.90 bln, representing an increase of 14% over last year, and as a percentage of the telecommunications service revenue from fixed-line business, increased from 24.3% in 2008 to 30.2% in 2009.
As of the end of 2009, the company's fixed-line broadband subscribers reached 38.55 mln, representing an increase of 28.2% YoY, with an annual net addition of 8.47 mln subscribers. Subscribers with 2M-and-above bandwidth accounted for 83.2% of all fixed-line broadband subscribers, representing an increase of 21.3 percentage points from the end of 2008. The total number of subscribers of broadband content and applications reached 8.16 mln, accounting for 21.2% of all fixed-line broadband subscribers. ARPU of fixed-line broadband was RMB 57.2, down by 10.0% from 2008.
The number of local access subscribers was 102.82 mln, down 6.2% YoY with a decrease of 6.75 mln subscribers over the previous year. The total number of subscribers of "personalized ring" was 26.63 mln, down by 11.5% from the end of 2008; the penetration rate of Caller ID service was 71.4%, declined by 1.2 percentage points; the total number of subscribers of phone navigation was 0.799 mln, up by 72.9% from the end of 2008. In 2009, the total local voice usage (excluding Internet dial-up usage) was 185.54 bln pulses, down by 8.9% from 2008; MOU was 145.4 minutes, down by 1.1% year over year; ARPU was RMB 31.4, down by 11.2% from 2008.
Total capital expenditure for 2009 reached RMB 112.5 bln, of which RMB 36.4 bln went into Unicom's 3G network, RMB 20.6 bln went into its 2G network, RMB 18.8 bln was spent on broadband and data, RMB 0.61 bln was spent on fixed-line, RMB 25 bln was spent on infrastructure & transport networks, and RMB 11.1 was spent on others. For 2010, Unicom has budgeted capex of RMB 73.5 bln, with RMB 23 bln for 3G, RMB 8 bln for 2G, RMB 15.3 bln for broadband and data, RMB 0.6 for fixed-line, RMB 17.4 for infrastructure & transport networks, and RMB 9.2 bln for others.
For China Unicom's full report, please click here, or here for the report in presentation form.
Keywords: fixed-line subscribers China Unicom ARPU profit revenue wireless mobile subscribers 3G broadband subscribers dial-up GSM 0762.HK 600050.SH CHU fiscal report WVAS PHS capex
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