China Mobile 3q09 press release

The unaudited financial data of the Group for the first three quarters of 2009 reflected:
. Operating revenue reached RMB326.977 billion, up by 8.9% over the same period of last year
. EBITDA of RMB167.739 billion, up by 5.5% over the same period of last year
. Profit attributable to shareholders of RMB83.935 billion, up by 1.8% over the same period of
last year

=> 8.9% up in revenue, in line with expectation. China Mobile needs to rely on value added service and 3G as the future revenue growth.

In the first three quarters of 2009, although China’s macro-economy is stabilizing and continues to grow, the impact of the global financial crisis on economy still persists and future development of the economy remains uncertain, which, together with the increasing penetration rate of mobile
telecommunications and the changes in competition environment of the telecommunications industry, have posed challenges to the development of the Group’s business. However, through effective management and the efforts of all its employees, the Group leveraged on its competitive advantages, overcame various challenges and continued to maintain favorable growth in its financial results. The Group’s operating revenue reached RMB326.977 billion, representing an increase of 8.9% compared to the same period of last year. EBITDA reached RMB167.739 billion, representing an increase of 5.5% compared to the same period of last year. Profit attributable to shareholders reached RMB83.935 billion, representing an increase of 1.8% compared to the same period of last year. Margin of profit attributable to shareholders maintained at a relatively high level of 25.7%.

=> promotion cost & discount on 3G phone did reduce China Mobile's EBITDA margin & net margin, but i think it is still at a reasonable level, still above 50%.

The increasing penetration rate of mobile telecommunications, the changes in competition environment of the telecommunications industry and the uncertainties relating to macro-economy in the future will change the industry structure of China’s telecommunications industry. Despite the challenges and adversities it faced, the Group continued to sustain healthy business development in the first three quarters of 2009. The Group’s customer growth showed signs of slowing down as a result of the negative impact of the slow down in macro-economic development on the demand for telecommunications services, the increasing penetration rate of mobile telecommunications which lessens potential growth in the number of new customers, as well as the restructuring of the industry which intensified competition. Nevertheless, the Group continues its market leadership with the average monthly net additional customers for the first three quarters reaching 5.68 million. The Group’s customer base was 508.37 million as at 30 September 2009. However, as the new customers are mainly low-usage customers and new tariffs sales and marketing scheme is gradually rolling out, ARPU and average revenue per minute of usage recorded a decrease, whilst the voice usage volume was stimulated. Total voice usage volume for the first three quarters of 2009 increased by 19.5% compared to the same period of last year. Value-added business also continued its favorable growth and mature
businesses sustained growth despite already having reached a sizeable scale. SMS usage volume
increased by 12.9% compared to the same period of last year. Meanwhile, the development of other data businesses also maintained favorable growth. The favorable growth in customer base and voice usage volume and the development of value-added business resulted in an increase of 8.9% in operating revenue in the first three quarters. The Group will continue to increase its investments in sales channels, customer service, network optimization, support system and R&D in order to enhance the Group’s core competitiveness under the new competitive landscape. Furthermore, the Group will strive to maintain a stable growth in its profitability through adhering to its refined cost management and by leveraging economies of scale.

=> RM$75 ARPU, a bit lower than Bilibala's expectation

To meet new challenges and opportunities, the Group will build on its strong foundation and
comprehensive strengths and leverage its existing competitive advantages so as to adapt rapidly to changes in the business environment and the competitive landscape, and to sustain its favorable business development and financial growth in order to continuously create value for its shareholders.

The Board wishes to remind investors that the above key performance indicators are based on the Group’s unaudited management accounts. Investors are cautioned not to unduly rely on such data.