China Mobile boosts capex to 5.5 bln usd in 2001

HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) - China Mobile (Hong Kong) Ltd said it is boosting is capital expenditure to 5.5 bln usd this year from 3.5 bln in 2000.	    Capital expenditure is expected to total 5.4 bln usd in both 2002 and 2003, the company added.	    China Mobile reported a 2000 net profit of 18.02 bln yuan after an exceptional write-off of 1.525 bln yuan reflecting the final cost of dismantling its remaining analog network.	    The company had flagged the provision in a statement late Friday.  	    The net profit was up very sharply from the previous year's 4.79 bln yuan but that figure was affected by a provision of 8.242 bln yuan, also taken for the dismantling of the analog network.	    Sales rose to 64.98 bln yuan from 38.62 bln while operating profit rose to 27.21 bln from 6.78 bln.	    The company did not specify the factors behind the sales and operating profit rise but analysts had forecast a major boost from the acquisition of seven mobile networks from parent China Mobile Hong Kong (BVI) Ltd in Oct 2000.	    Average revenue per user in 2000 fell to 221 yuan from 299 yuan in 1999, the company said.	    ARPU on a contract subscriber basis in 2000 fell to 241 yuan from 299 yuan a year earlier, while ARPU on a repaid subscriber basis was 87 yuan at end-2000.	    The number of total subscribers at end-2000 was 45.1 mln, up from 25.7 mln at the end of the previous year, the company said.	    The number of contract subscribers at end-2000 rose to 32.4 mln from 25.7 mln a year earlier, while the number of prepaid subscribers totalled 12.7 mln.	    China Mobile had 77.5 pct share of mainland China's mobile phone market at end-2000, compared with 86.6 pct a year earlier.	    The company said it had a total debt to capitalization ratio of 30.9 pct at end-2000, compared with 19.10 pct the previous year. Total debt increased to 37.46 bln yuan from 13.48 bln.	    The company raised 12.50 bln yuan in debt from a syndicated loan and 600 mln usd from a convertible bond issue to help fund the acquisition of the seven mobile phone networks from its parent for 32.84 bln usd in October.	    At the end of 2000, the company had net cash of 2.43 bln yuan, against 14.09 bln a year earlier. 

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