CHINA TELECOM(601728) 海通证券·2025-04-01 14:13Investment Rating - The investment rating for the company is "Outperform the Market" [2] Core Views - The report emphasizes the continuous improvement in profitability, with a focus on enhancing computing power and AI self-research capabilities [6][8] - The company is expected to maintain good growth in revenue and profit from 2025 to 2027, with projected revenues of 544.81 billion, 565.59 billion, and 586.65 billion respectively [8][10] Financial Performance Summary - For 2024, the company is projected to achieve a revenue of 523.57 billion, a year-on-year increase of 3.1%, and a net profit of 33.01 billion, up 8.4% year-on-year [8] - The gross margin is expected to be 28.66%, with a net margin of 6.3% [8] - The return on equity (ROE) is forecasted to be 7.3% for 2024, reflecting a 0.4 percentage point increase year-on-year [8] Revenue Breakdown - Service revenue is projected to be 482.03 billion in 2024, with a growth rate of 3.67% [10] - The company’s cloud revenue is expected to reach 113.9 billion, a year-on-year increase of 17.1% [8] - The average revenue per user (ARPU) for mobile services is forecasted to be 45.6 yuan, showing stable growth [8] Capital Expenditure and Investment - The capital expenditure for 2024 is estimated at 93.51 billion, a decrease of 5.39% year-on-year, with a focus on computing power investments [8] - The company plans to invest 83.6 billion in 2025, which is a 10.6% decrease from the previous year [8] Dividend and Cash Flow - The company plans to distribute a dividend of 0.2598 yuan per share in 2024, representing a year-on-year increase of 11.4% and a payout ratio of 72% [8] - Free cash flow for 2024 is projected to be 22.2 billion, reflecting a significant increase of 70.7% year-on-year [8]