Loading…
State-owned Chinese telecom carrier providing mobile, broadband and enterprise/cloud services, strongest in fixed-line markets.
State-owned Chinese telecom carrier providing mobile, broadband and enterprise/cloud services, strongest in fixed-line markets.
Earns monthly fees from broadband, mobile and enterprise cloud and data services, with tariffs under government guidance, and is strongest in fixed broadband among the three state carriers. State-owned China Telecommunications Corporation controls it. These Hong Kong shares and the Shanghai ones listed in 2021 are the same company.
In one line: China's AT&T (fixed-line-rooted, now mobile-heavy too).
Moat: narrow (regulatory licence, scale, installed base). One of only three licensed national carriers in China, with a strong fixed-line legacy base.
Headquarters: Beijing, China · Founded: 2002 · Employees: 277,911
Size China Telecom (0728.HK) is a Hong Kong Communication Services company (Wireless Telecommunications) with a market value of $89.4B, the 22nd largest of 891 Hong Kong companies the cockpit tracks. Shares closed at HK$4.58 on 6 Nov 2026.
Performance Over six months the shares fell 14.3%, against -3.5% for the median peer and -13.4% for the Hong Kong market (cap-weighted) — 3rd lowest of 11 in its peer set.
Growth Revenue grew 1.2% over the last twelve months (peer median +7.9%); the operating margin is 6.1% (peer median 21.7%).
Valuation It trades at 12.3× forward earnings against a peer median of 12.8× (6th cheapest of 11).
Price implies For today's price to make sense, revenue must grow about -17% a year for seven years (Req g). Recent delivered growth is +5%, so the hurdle is -22 pp: the price already allows for a slowdown.
Capital Return on invested capital runs 13.7 points above its cost of capital (6.2% WACC).
Next results Next results expected around 30 Mar 2027 (exchange calendar; dates can move).
| TTM | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | HK$578B | HK$567B | HK$574B | HK$561B | HK$552B |
| Revenue growth | — | -1% | +2% | +2% | — |
| Gross profit | HK$250B | HK$159B | HK$118B | HK$156B | HK$152B |
| EBITDA | n/a | HK$156B | HK$155B | HK$155B | HK$158B |
| Net income | HK$32.7B | HK$36.0B | HK$35.8B | HK$33.6B | HK$32.1B |
| Free cash flow | HK$75.8B | HK$58.4B | HK$59.1B | HK$55.2B | HK$54.6B |
| Capital expenditure | HK$82.4B | HK$79.3B | HK$97.9B | HK$99.6B | HK$106B |
| Total debt | HK$73.0B | HK$68.2B | HK$64.6B | HK$80.1B | HK$89.9B |
The default views of Competitor Analysis ▸ Charts, drawn from the same data. Open them in the cockpit to change the axes, pin companies and read every value.
| Company | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| China Telecom 0728.HK | $89.4B | -14% | +1% | 6% | 12.3× | -17.0% |
| China Mobile 0941.HK | $227B | -2% | +4% | 19% | 11.3× | -16.3% |
| China Unicom 0762.HK | $21.3B | -26% | +4% | 2% | 8.2× | -8.3% |
Peer set: Industry: the same industry and sector in any market, nearest in size. This is the same default set the interactive Competitor Analysis opens with.
| Measure | 0728.HK | Peer median | Rank in peer set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-month return | +1.3% | -1.6% | 5th highest of 11 |
| 6-month return | -14.3% | -3.5% | 3rd lowest of 11 |
| Distance from 52-week high | -24.6% | -10.6% | 3rd lowest of 11 |
| Revenue growth (TTM) | +1.2% | +7.9% | 2nd lowest of 12 |
| Operating margin | 6.1% | 21.7% | lowest of 12 |
| Forward P/E | 12.3× | 12.8× | 6th cheapest of 11 |
| Growth the price implies (Req g, 7 yrs) | -17.0% | 3.4% | least demanding of 12 |
| Growth delivered (Del g) | +5.1% | +2.7% | 5th highest of 12 |
| Hurdle (Req g minus delivered) | -22.1 pp | +1.3 pp | least demanding of 12 |
| ROIC minus cost of capital | +13.7 pp | +1.4 pp | highest of 12 |
| Company | Market | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g | Delivered g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| China Telecom 0728.HK | Hong Kong | $89.4B | -14% | +1% | 6% | 12.3× | -17.0% | +5.1% |
| America Movil SAB de CV Sponsored ADR AMX | United States | $78.5B | -5% | +16% | 22% | 13.5× | -7.3% | +4.7% |
| Softbank 9434.T | Japan | $71.3B | +6% | +8% | 14% | 18.5× | 3.4% | +6.2% |
| Kddi 9433.T | Japan | $66.4B | +10% | +4% | 18% | 14.2× | -1.4% | +2.7% |
| Jio Platforms JPL.NS | India | $137B | n/a | +15% | 32% | n/a | 28.0% | +14.6% |
| Bharti Airtel BHARTIARTL.NS | India | $139B | +15% | +20% | 32% | 33.3× | 20.4% | +16.0% |
| AT&T T | United States | $146B | -14% | +4% | 22% | 8.5× | -4.8% | -6.1% |
| T-Mobile US TMUS | United States | $172B | -16% | +9% | 22% | 12.0× | -3.0% | +5.2% |
| Orange ORA.PA | France | $45.0B | -19% | +3% | 12% | 9.9× | 4.9% | -0.9% |
| Verizon VZ | United States | $189B | -3% | +1% | 24% | 8.8× | -7.2% | +1.5% |
| Telstra TLS.AX | Australia | $39.0B | -4% | -1% | 16% | 24.2× | 5.6% | +1.2% |
| Vodafone Group Public VOD.L | United Kingdom | $36.3B | +4% | +11% | 10% | 12.1× | 4.2% | -2.2% |