China Mobile Nears 60M 3G Connections, Revenue up 7.8%

China Mobile reported Q1 2012 revenue of RMB127.4 billion, representing an increase of 7.8% compared to the same period of last year. EBITDA reached RMB60.7 billion, representing an increase of 4.5% compared to the same period of last year. Profit attributable to equity shareholders reached RMB27.8 billion, representing an increase of 3.5% compared to the same period of last year. Margin of profit attributable to equity shareholders was maintained at a relatively high level of 21.8%.

As with previous reports, China Mobile cautioned that is sees challenges ahead arising from the continued increase in mobile penetration rate, increasingly intensified competition in the telecommunications market and the structural change of the industry value chain.

Some highlights:

• The average monthly net additional customers were nearly 5.9 million and the Group continued to maintain the leading position in the industry.
• The number of 3G customers reached nearly 60 million.
• As the number of low usage customers increased, the scenario of “one customer with multiple SIM cards�? became more and more popular.
• ARPU and average revenue per minute continued to decline.
• Total voice usage for the first quarter of 2012 increased by 10.1% compared to the same period of last year.
• Wireless data traffic in the first quarter of 2012 increased by 181.3% compared to the same period of last year.
• The data businesses of Mobile Mailbox, Mobile Reading and Mobile Video have shown promising trends of growth.

http://www.chinamobileltd.com/