China Mobile Ltd, the world’s biggest mobile operator by subscribers, reported on 18 March a sharp slowdown in profit growth for 2009 and said it plans to cut capital spending in the next three years to save costs and maintain profitability.
Earnings-growth momentum for China Mobile has been slowing because of increasing competition from rivals China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd and China Telecom Corp. Higher marketing and depreciation expenses for its third-generation mobile services are also likely to continue to weigh on its profitability this year, analysts say.
China Mobile reported that net profit for the 12 months ended 31 December 2009 rose 2.3 percent to CNY115.2 billion (USD16.87 billion) from CNY112.63 billion (USD16.5 billion) a year earlier. The growth rate was sharply lower than the 30 percent it saw in 2008.
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(Source: The Wall Street Journal Online)