China Unicom(SH:600050) HTSC·2025-10-23 02:44Investment Rating - The report maintains an "Accumulate" rating for A-shares and a "Buy" rating for H-shares with target prices of RMB 7.56 and HKD 15.57 respectively [6][12]. Core Views - The company has shown improvement in operational efficiency and is accelerating its digital transformation, benefiting from the growth in AI applications which enhance revenue from cloud computing and data center services [1][5]. - Traditional business segments remain stable with a positive growth trend, as evidenced by the increase in mobile users to 356 million and broadband users to 129 million [2]. - The company is enhancing its network capabilities, with cloud revenue growing by 20.6% year-on-year and data center revenue increasing by 8.9% [3][4]. Summary by Sections Financial Performance - For the first three quarters of 2025, the company reported revenue of RMB 292.99 billion, a year-on-year increase of 0.99%, and a net profit attributable to shareholders of RMB 8.772 billion, up 5.20% [1][11]. - The third quarter alone saw revenue of RMB 92.78 billion, with a net profit of RMB 2.423 billion, reflecting a 5.4% increase year-on-year [1]. User Growth - As of the end of Q3 2025, the company had 356 million mobile users, a net increase of 12.48 million, and 129 million broadband users, with a net increase of 6.79 million [2]. Network and Technology Development - The company is advancing its network from 5G to 5G-A and upgrading broadband from gigabit to 10-gigabit, which is expected to enhance user experience [3]. - The cloud business achieved revenue of RMB 52.9 billion, while the data center business generated RMB 21.4 billion, both showing strong growth [3]. Profitability and Efficiency - The company's return on equity (ROE) improved by 0.09 percentage points to 5.10%, and the net profit margin increased by 0.26 percentage points to 6.8% due to enhanced operational efficiency and cost control [4]. - The company plans to spin off its subsidiary, Unicom Smart Technology, for listing on the ChiNext board, which is expected to support its long-term growth strategy [4]. Future Outlook - The report anticipates continued growth in revenue and profit driven by the development of AI applications, maintaining profit forecasts for 2025-2027 at RMB 9.602 billion, RMB 10.124 billion, and RMB 10.643 billion respectively [5][10].