[ET Net News Agency, 21 April 2020] HSBC Global Research raised its target price for
China Mobile (CM)(00941) to HK$69 from HK$64 and maintained its "buy" rating.
The research house said CM's equipment revenue fell 35% in 1Q on lower equipment sales,
reflecting the broad nature of the shutdown in the first quarter of the year. However,
despite decreased traffic, service revenue rose 1.8% as the business continued to recover
from the impact of the cancellation of data roaming revenue.
CM noted that 5G operational costs increased in the first quarter; this will be a key
factor in EBITDA weakness this year. However, 5G sales remained robust in the quarter with
31.7m 5G package users at end-March relative to the company's 70m year-end target. (KL)