CITIC Telecom Takes Results to New Heights in 2016
Makes Record High Operating Profit of more than HK$850 Million
• Profit attributable to equity shareholders amounted to HK$850.1 million, representing an increase of 6.0% yoy.
• Basic earnings per share were HK24.9 cents, up 4.6% yoy.
• Board recommended final dividend of HK10.35 cents per share for 2016. Together with the interim dividend of HK2.85 cents per share, the total dividend per share for 2016 would be HK13.2 cents, representing a 5.6% yoy growth.
• The dividend payout ratio was maintained at approximately 53%.
“The Group has clear strategic objectives and effective development strategies, guiding its active pursuit of different business endeavours and efforts to take the company to new heights. Apart from launching innovative Internet-based products and services, we also made a number of overseas acquisitions during the year, which have helped broaden our overseas market coverage and open us to new business areas. This is proof that the Group’s strategy of ‘taking strength from its strong roots in the Mainland market and using Hong Kong and Macau as base and the bridge to accelerate expansion and boost coverage of overseas markets’ is starting to bear fruit.”
During the year, the Group launched the “City Link” roaming services and four million WiFi hotspots that supports data-sharing in Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau. It is the first carrier in Macau to offer genuine data-sharing service that covers the three territories. As at the end of 2016, the Group had 57% share of the 4G market in Macau, enhancing its market leadership. The number of its mobile broadband users also increased by 17%, year-on-year.
On the international telecommunications services front, the Group achieved breakthrough with its “DataMall自由行” service, the first data flow trading platform. The Group cooperated with China Mobile and became the offshore data flow platform for “JegoTrip” and linked to leading OTT platforms, such as Alipay, Baidu Map and Ctrip, via the Internet. Currently, “DataMall自由行” homes merchants from popular data source locations including Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand and Korea. More than one million purchases were recorded last year and the number is growing quickly. It also boasts high customer satisfaction, evidencing the power of the advanced technology the Group affords and the product’s popularity in the market and strong growth potential.
For its Internet business, the Group put major effort to promote optical fibre broadband service. Its optical network in Macau attained 100% coverage in the first quarter of 2016 and the number of its optical service customers also increased substantially.
During the year, the Group completed the acquisition of the full ownership interests in CITIC Telecom Tower of total gross floor area of 340,000 square feet, which will be used to facilitate the expansion of its data centre business. When the project is completed, CITIC Telecom Tower will become one of the largest data centres in Hong Kong. Working in complement with the Group’s other data centres in the Asia Pacific region, it will significantly enhance the competitiveness of the Group’s data centre business and give the business a strong foundation for long term development.
The Group succeeded in the acquisition of a number of overseas assets during the year which has sped up its expansion in and boosted its coverage of international markets. The acquisition of Linx Telecommunications B.V. (“Linx”) was completed in Feb 2017, which serves 14 countries in Europe and Asia, has given the Group’s enterprise solutions business some unique advantages. Furthermore, the Group completed the acquisition of Singapore-headquartered Acclivis Technologies and Solutions Pte. Ltd. (“Acclivis”). On top of creating synergies with the Group’s existing business, Acclivis can also enhance the Group’s service capability, allowing it to become one of the few suppliers in the Southeast Asian market capable of providing cross-regional, one-stop and end-to-end corporate ICT services. The two acquisitions are conducive to the capturing of opportunities arising from China’s “One Belt One Road” strategy by the Group and have given the Group a solid foundation for future development.
“Capitalising on the newly acquired overseas projects, we will seize the immense opportunities arising from China’s ‘One Belt One Road’ and ‘Internet+’ strategies to strengthen management and integration of Linx and Acclivis, that they may together with our existing operations enjoy maximum synergies, and enhance our capability in providing end-to-end corporate ICT services. These efforts will give the Group the support it needs to grow bigger and stronger.”