China Unicom has announced it expects to report a strong 155% increase in net profit for the first nine months of the year, driven by robust service revenue growth and lower expenses.
The operator’s preliminary results estimate that net profit reached 4.1 billion yuan ($618.6 million) for the period, with service revenue up 4.1% to 187.9 billion.
China Unicom also reduced its selling and marketing expenses and handset subsidy spending as part of its new Focus Strategy.
But the company still added over 13 million new mobile customers during the nine month period, taking its total to 277 million.
Total 4G net additions were 55.7 million, with the operator’s total 4G customer base growing to 160 million. In September alone, Unicom gained 3.82 million new mobile customers and 7.56 million new 4G customers – a company record for both metrics.
Despite the strong results, Unicom warned that the recent regulator-mandated abolishment of domestic long-distance and roaming fees – coupled with a cyclical increase in market competition – is expected to place increasing pressure on the company’s financial performance in the fourth quarter.
“Going forward, the Group will actively address challenges, continue to deepen Focus Strategy and earnestly capitalise on the implementation of mixed-ownership reform to raise efficiency and returns,” China Unicom said in a statement.