(Yicai) Aug. 14 -- China Mobile Communications Group, China's largest telecom operator, reported a 6.3 percent drop in net profit in the first half from a year earlier, as pressure on its core communications business offset strong growth in computing-related services.

China Mobile reported net profit of CNY78.9 billion (USD11.7 billion) in the first six months, while operating revenue dipped 1.1 percent year on year to CNY538 billion (USD79.8 billion), the Beijing-based firm said yesterday.

Revenue from its core businesses slumped 3.1 percent in the six months ended June 30 from a year ago to CNY452.7 billion, while revenue from other businesses jumped 11.2 percent to CNY85.4 billion (USD12.6 billion), it said. Revenue from computing and intelligent services accounted for 22.6 percent of core business revenue, up 2.2 percentage points year-on-year.

In terms of business performance, telecommunications services revenue slumped 5.7 percent over the period to CNY350.4 billion (USD52 billion).

By contrast, computing services revenue surged 14 percent to CNY52.9 billion (USD7.8 billion) and revenue from intelligent services climbed 0.9 percent to CNY49.3 billion (USD7.3 billion). In international markets, revenue advanced 30.2 percent to CNY18.2 billion (USD2.7 billion).

The number of mobile customers increased by 5.88 million people to 1.01 billion and the company's 5G customer base added 44.74 million customers to hit 687 million. In addition, mobile data traffic surged 16 percent year on year, representing a significant acceleration in growth, it said.

China Mobile’s capital expenditure climbed 4.5 percent in the first six months from a year earlier to CNY61 billion (USD9 billion). Investment in its computing networks surged 71 percent, while investment in intelligent networks soared 85 percent.

Spending on research and development jumped 6.5 percent over the period to CNY13.8 billion (USD2 billion). R&D efforts focused on strategic emerging and future industries such as 6G, artificial intelligence, the industrial internet and embodied intelligence, China Mobile said.

China Mobile’s share price [SHA: 600941] closed up 1.6 percent at CNY97.71 (USD14.50) in Shanghai today. In Hong Kong, its stock [HKG: 0941] closed up 1 percent at HKD82.05 (USD10.46)

Editor: Kim Taylor