(Yicai Global) March 30 -- ZTE made a net profit of nearly CNY5.2 billion (USD726 million) last year, putting behind it a loss the Chinese telecoms equipment maker suffered in 2018 following a ban for illegally selling US technology to Iran.

The profit compares with a CNY6.98 billion loss in 2018 after ZTE coughed up USD1.4 billion to avoid a seven-year ban on trade in the United States. Revenue rose 6.1 percent to CNY90.7 billion (USD12.8 billion) in the year ended Dec. 31, with a little over a third coming from the international market, the Shenzhen-based firm said in its annual earnings report published on March 27.

The company will pay an annual dividend of CNY2 (28 US cents) for every 10 shares held, according to the financial report. It gave no indication of the impact on its business this year from the novel coronavirus outbreak.

ZTE's operator network business was again its biggest revenue generator, gaining 16.7 percent to CNY66.6 billion last year, or 73.4 percent of all revenue. Its consumer business was the second-biggest income source, tallying CNY15 billion.

ZTE's shares [SHE:000063] fell 1.5 percent today to finish at CNY42.74 (USD6.03) each. The yardstick Shenzhen Component Index lost 2 percent.

The firm has penned 46 commercial contracts for fifth-generation networks worldwide and concluded in-depth cooperation with more than 76 telecoms operators, it said. It has also begun mass producing seven-nanometer chips and using them in its 5G networks, and spent some CNY12.6 billion, 13.8 percent of operating revenue, on research and development.

ZTE will also release around 10 5G smartphones and more than 15 other 5G devices worldwide in order to build a diversified portfolio of products capable of using the networks, it said. These will include mobile broadband products and Internet of Things devices.

Editor: James Boynton