China Telecom Interim Profit Down 14.9%; Dividend Set at RMB 0.1606

China Telecom released its interim results, reporting shareholders' attributable profit of RMB 19.588 billion for the six months ended June 30, down 14.9% year on year, with earnings per share of RMB 0.21. The company declared an interim dividend of RMB 0.1606 per share, down 11.37% year on year. During the period, operating revenue was RMB 260.471 billion, down 4.05% year on year, of which communication services revenue was RMB 213 billion, smart services revenue was RMB 31.1 billion, up 7.1%, and Tianyi Cloud revenue was RMB 61.8 billion, up 7.8%. EBITDA stood at RMB 74.4 billion, and free cash flow reached RMB 28.9 billion, up 1.21 times year on year. The company said that looking ahead, it will fully implement its cloud-digital-transformation and smart strategy, continue to deepen the construction of its five-in-one intelligent cloud system, press ahead with its AI-plus initiative, and take Token operations as the main line to foster new forms of the intelligent economy. It will also strive to produce original and leading sci-tech innovation outcomes, strengthen built-in AI security capabilities, accelerate the building of new digital information infrastructure, further deepen comprehensive reforms to enhance corporate governance, advance high-quality development, and achieve a strong start to the 15th Five-Year Plan period.