CHINA TELECOM(SH:601728) Shanxi Securities·2025-04-11 10:23Investment Rating - The report maintains a "Buy-A" rating for China Telecom (601728.SH) [1] Core Views - The company focuses on computing power investments and expanding into emerging fields, aiming for stable growth in revenue and profits while enhancing shareholder returns [1][9] Financial Performance - In 2024, the company achieved revenue of 523.57 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.1%. Service revenue was 482.03 billion yuan, up 3.7% year-on-year. EBITDA reached 140.85 billion yuan, growing by 2.9%. The net profit attributable to shareholders was 33.01 billion yuan, an increase of 8.4% year-on-year, with an EPS of 0.36 yuan, also up 8.4% [3][9] Business Segments - Mobile communication service revenue reached 202.5 billion yuan, up 3.5% year-on-year, with mobile value-added and application revenue growing by 16.1% to 29.9 billion yuan. The mobile user base reached 425 million, with a net increase of 17 million users, and the ARPU was 45.6 yuan, a slight increase of 0.2 yuan year-on-year [4] - Fixed-line and smart home service revenue was 125.7 billion yuan, up 2.1% year-on-year, with smart home business revenue growing by 16.8% to 22.1 billion yuan. The broadband user base reached 197 million, with a net increase of 7 million users, and the comprehensive ARPU was 47.6 yuan, remaining stable year-on-year [5] - The digital industry revenue reached 146.6 billion yuan, up 5.5% year-on-year, accounting for 30.4% of service revenue. Tianyi Cloud revenue was 113.9 billion yuan, growing by 17.1% year-on-year, while international business revenue reached 16.88 billion yuan, up 15.4% [6] Capital Expenditure and Investment Strategy - The company continues to implement a prudent investment strategy, with capital expenditure in 2024 at 93.5 billion yuan, a decrease of 5.4% year-on-year. The planned capital expenditure for 2025 is 83.6 billion yuan, down 10.6% year-on-year, but computing power investment is expected to increase by 22% [8] Future Outlook - The company aims for good growth in revenue, EBITDA, and net profit in 2025, with a focus on high-speed growth in smart income and maintaining good growth in cloud computing. The planned dividend payout ratio for 2024 is 72%, with a total dividend of 0.2598 yuan per share, an increase of 11.4% year-on-year [9]