China Telecom FY profit dips 96% on write-downs

Hong Kong: China Telecom Corp yesterday reported a 96 percent fall in full year net profit due to impairment losses on its personal handyphone assets and said it has delayed plans to rope in a strategic investor due to the weak market conditions.

China Telecom Chairman & CEO Wang Xiaochu said yesterday the company would rather look at debt refinancing due to its lower costs rather than introduce strategic investors.

The fixed line operator said full year net income tumbled to 884 million yuan from 24.2 billion yuan a year earlier after it booked a 24 billion yuan impairment charge on its Personal Handyphone System (PHS), the short-distance wireless services also known as Xiaolingtong, that it will retire soon.