China Mobile 1Q Net Profit CNY14.36 Billion Vs CNY11.25 Billion

HONG KONG -(Dow Jones)- China Mobile (Hong Kong) Ltd. said Thursday its first-quarter net profit rose 28% as its subscriber base continued to grow rapidly.

The listed arm of China's largest mobile carrier by subscribers said its net profit for the three months ended March 31 was CNY14.36 billion, up from CNY11.25 billion in the year-earlier period.

The result is in line with expectations. According to the average estimates of four analysts in a poll by Dow Jones Newswires, China Mobile's first quarter result was expected to be CNY14.38 billion. China Mobile's first-quarter earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization rose 21% to CNY35.78 billion from CNY29.62 billion. Its EBITDA margin improved to 22% from 21% in the year-earlier period.

China Mobile's revenue in the three-month period increase 19% to CNY65.02 billion from CNY54.86 billion a year earlier.

In the three-month period, China Mobile added 12.63 million subscribers, compared with the 11.78 million new users it gained in the fourth quarter of 2005.

It gained 4.30 million subscribers in March, up from February's addition of 4.20 million subscribers.

The company had 260.65 million subscribers as of the end of March.

Average revenue per user per month in the first quarter fell to CNY86 from CNY92 in the fourth quarter.

It said 227.2 million subscribers were using mobile data services, up from 206.7 million in the previous quarter.

The company's network utilization rate was 82.0% during the period, up from 81.6% in the fourth quarter.

-By Ernest Kong, Dow Jones Newswires; 852-2802-7002; ernest.kong@dowjones.com

-Edited by David Riordan

(END) Dow Jones Newswires "

Posted to the site on 20th April 2006