- China Unicom (NYSE:CHU) is another 1.2% lower in U.S. trading today after a Deutsche Bank downgrade following earnings where it lost subscribers and revenues and profits fell.
- The firm cut China Unicom to Hold and reduced its price target to 11 Hong Kong dollars. Shares closed in Hong Kong down 1.2% to HK$9.84.
- For the nine months, earnings dropped 22.6% on total service revenue that was down 3.8%; part of that fall was mobile service revenue that had dropped 8%.
- While the 2Q mobile ARPU showed an improving trend, this did not continue into 3Q which saw ARPU decline 1% Q/Q," the analysts said. "ARPU improvement has been elusive for CU due to its slower 4G ramp up vs. the peers and the flight to quality that seems to have occurred for users. Looking forward opex will rise, so lifting ARPU is the key.