UBS released a research report to maintain China Mobile Limited(00941) "buy" rating, with a target price of HK $80. The company's net profit rose 8.7% in the third quarter, up slightly from 6% in the first half and higher than market expectations. During the period, the growth of service revenue slowed slightly to 7%. Its EBITDA grew 6 per cent year-on-year due to continued investment in 5G networks and increased spending on R & D talent training.
According to the report, the company will have a current price-to-earnings ratio of 7 times current earnings in 2022 and offer a dividend yield of 7.4%, while the group's earnings per share will have medium to high single-digit growth. The Group's mobile ARPU was broadly flat in the third quarter, while fixed broadband ARPU declined. As for user growth, fixed broadband users grew by 15% year-on-year, while mobile users grew by 1% year-on-year.
The bank said 5G network penetration continued to improve, with 160 million 5G customers, compared with a full-year target price of 200m. Sales expenses continued to decline during the period, and the Group expects sales expenses to decrease as a percentage of service revenue for the whole year. In addition, the full-year guidelines remain unchanged and management expects good profit growth.