China Unicom (Hong Kong) released its unaudited 2026 interim results, highlighting resilient top-line performance but notable profit pressure in the first six months of 2026.
Revenue and Profitability • Operating revenue edged up 0.60 % year on year (YoY) to RMB 201.36 billion. • Service revenue slipped 0.22 % YoY to RMB 177.96 billion as industry growth moderated. • Net profit attributable to shareholders declined 34.60 % YoY to RMB 9.47 billion, mainly due to higher value-added tax (VAT) and a front-loaded booking of employee benefit expenses. Management expects the full-year profit contraction to narrow. • EBITDA reached RMB 47.42 billion, equivalent to 26.6 % of service revenue.
Segment and Business Mix • Computing power revenue—covering data centres, computing services, digital smart applications and cloud-AI services—rose 13 % YoY to RMB 41.90 billion. Within this, Internet data centre (IDC) revenue grew 11 % and computing services advanced 9 %. • International business revenue increased 14 % YoY to RMB 7.70 billion. • Integrated subscriber penetration surpassed 78 %, with integrated package ARPU maintained above RMB 100.
Cash Flow and Investment • Net cash generated from operating activities hit RMB 32.94 billion, a 13.60 % YoY increase and the highest first-half level in recent years. • Capital expenditure was RMB 24.08 billion; 37 % (over RMB 8.90 billion) was directed to computing-power infrastructure, more than 80 % higher YoY. • Free cash flow stood at RMB 8.86 billion, up 0.90 % YoY.
Balance Sheet and Liquidity • Total assets reached RMB 676.09 billion at 30 June 2026, slightly above year-end 2025. • Total liabilities were RMB 300.29 billion, lifting the liabilities-to-assets ratio marginally to 44.4 %. • Interest-bearing borrowings amounted to RMB 6.93 billion; the debt-to-capitalisation ratio improved to 7.7 %, while net debt-to-capitalisation was 0.7 %. • Accounts receivable rose to RMB 80.42 billion, though growth slowed versus the prior-year period.
Cost Dynamics • Operating costs increased 4.10 % YoY to RMB 193.96 billion, driven by a 19.30 % rise in employee benefit expenses to RMB 34.14 billion. • Depreciation and amortisation eased 0.80 % to RMB 40.01 billion, reducing its share of revenue to 19.9 %. • Selling and marketing expenses declined 0.60 % to RMB 18.06 billion, reflecting continued cost discipline.
Capital Allocation and Shareholder Returns • The board declared no interim dividend for 1H26. A final dividend of RMB 0.1329 per share for FY25 (totalling RMB 4.07 billion) was approved at the May 2026 AGM.
Operational Highlights • Total connectivity subscriptions exceeded 1.3 billion across mobile, fixed-line, broadband, IoT and leased-line users. • 5G-A sites now span more than 330 cities, while 10-G PON ports reach 87 % of broadband capacity. • Intelligent computing power surpassed 45 EFLOPS with a utilisation rate above 74 %, supported by 1.15 million standard cabinets.
Outlook Management will continue to balance “preservation and innovation,” emphasising connectivity, computing power, service quality and security solutions to drive sustainable growth and mitigate current profit pressures.