(Yicai Global) Aug. 8 -- State-owned telecom carrier China Mobile made CNY56.1 billion (USD6.5) in first-half net profit, down 14.6% annually as the mobile data market began to saturate, according to its financial report released today.

Total revenue slid 0.6 percent to CNY389.4 billion, with the largest portion coming from communication services despite a 1.3 percent drop in income to CNY351.4 billion. New services for television set-top boxes and the Internet of Things brought in in CNY6.2 billion (USD880 million), up 59.7 percent, and CNY5.2 billion, up 43.8 percent.

Its shares [HKG:0941] were down 0.63 percent at HKD62.75 (USD8.00) as of 1.40 p.m. against a 0.7 percent rise in Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index.

Editor: James Boynton