HONG KONG (Reuters) -
China Mobile (0941.HK), the world's
largest wireless operator, posted a 51 percent rise in
quarterly profit on strong subscriber growth, but faces new
competition in China's revamped telecoms sector.

With Beijing beginning to overhaul the world's largest
telecoms industry, China Mobile and smaller rival China Unicom
(0762.HK) continue to aggressively seek customers in rural
areas as markets in major cities become saturated.

On Wednesday, China Mobile said net profit for the three
months ended June amounted to 30.7 billion yuan ($4.48 billion)
versus the 20.34 billion yuan it booked during the same period
last year, according to Reuters calculations of previously
reported figures.

That result beat an average forecast of 27.66 billion
according to 5 analysts polled by Reuters.

The firm also posted 44.7 rise in first-half profit to 54.8
billion yuan, beating a consensus forecast of 52.49 billion
yuan.

In May, Beijing announced that Unicom will buy China Netcom
(0906.HK), the smaller of China's two fixed-line carriers, and
sell its smaller Code Division Multiple Access network to
fixed-line leader China Telecom (0728.HK) (CHA.N), creating new
competitors to China Mobile.

Shares in the firm shed nearly 9.5 percent during the
second quarter, lagging the Hang Seng index's (.HSI) 3.3
percent slide.

(Reporting by Joseph Chaney; editing by Jonathan Hopfner)

Source

Related posts:

1. China Unicom buys China Netcom in $56B stock swap (AP)
2. China to issue 3G licenses, merge telecoms majors (Reuters)
3. China stocks tumble on profit-taking (AP)
4. China shares rise on optimism over stimulus plan (AP)
5. China shares rise on hopes of more stimulus (AP)