运营商行业2024年中报专题：运营商利润增速稳健，数智化转型全球领先

Investment Rating - The report maintains a "Buy" rating for the telecommunications industry [5] Core Insights - In the first half of 2024, the three major operators in China demonstrated steady revenue growth and enhanced profitability despite macroeconomic fluctuations and structural pressures within the industry. China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom achieved revenues of CNY 546.7 billion (+3.02%), CNY 197.3 billion (+2.87%), and CNY 266.0 billion (+2.82%) respectively, with net profits of CNY 80.2 billion (+5.29%), CNY 6.0 billion (+10.93%), and CNY 21.8 billion (+8.23%) [3][14][40] Summary by Sections Revenue and Profitability - The three major operators maintained a relatively stable growth trajectory, with revenue growth rates slightly slowing down while net profit growth outpaced revenue growth. China Mobile's revenue growth was the highest among the three operators [14][16] - The revenue structure is continuously optimizing, with strategic emerging businesses showing positive results, enhancing profitability and the quality of development [14][16] Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) - The capital expenditure structure is shifting towards IT, supporting the development of innovative and cloud-based businesses. In the first half of 2024, China Mobile's CAPEX was CNY 64.0 billion (-21.4%), China Unicom's was CNY 23.9 billion (-13.4%), and China Telecom's was CNY 47.2 billion (+13.4%) [3][23] - The focus on network infrastructure construction continues, with the total number of mobile communication base stations reaching 11.88 million, of which 5G base stations accounted for 33% [26][31] Digital Transformation and New Business Growth - The traditional core business remains solid, with digital transformation driven by intelligent network services achieving breakthroughs. China Mobile's digital transformation revenue reached CNY 147.1 billion (+11.0%), while China Unicom's intelligent network business revenue was CNY 43.5 billion (+6.6%) and China Telecom's digital industry revenue was CNY 73.7 billion (+7.2%) [3][41][43] - The second curve business, which includes cloud services and intelligent applications, is becoming a new growth engine for operators, with significant revenue contributions [47] Global Leadership - Chinese operators lead globally in terms of revenue, achieving "three global firsts": network scale, customer scale, and revenue scale. China Mobile ranked first globally in revenue, surpassing Verizon [4][44][45] - The growth rates of Chinese operators outpace international peers, with China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom achieving revenue growth rates of 7.7%, 6.7%, and 5.0% respectively, compared to 1%-4% for international operators [4][44]