ZTE almost doubled profits in 2014

Chinese telecom kit vendor ZTE has announced its preliminary full-year financial results showing a 94% increase in in net profits for 2014. However, the firm’s annual revenue is expected to grow at a more modest rate with an 8% increase compared to 2013, inferring some pretty extensive cost-cutting.

According to the unaudited figures (based on accounting standards of the People’s Republic of China), the total expected net profit for 2014 is expected to be RMB2.64 billion ($242 million), compared with RMB1.36 billion in 2013.

ZTE said its gross profit margin improved last year due to its business operations optimisation programme. The firm claimed it also managed to decrease expenses “through effective management of interest costs and foreign exchange exposure,” as it said in a statement.

The vendor also said it has achieved growth in its 4G TD-LTE and FDD-LTE systems business in China, and internationally in its 3G and 4G smartphone operations. However, further details were not disclosed pending the annual results publication on March 25.

In other news, ZTE announced it has provided 51% of China Telecom’s multi-service edge (MSE) routers in the course of the last three years. According to ZTE, MSE routers play a key role in China Telecom’s ongoing IP Metropolitan Networks (MAN) upgrade.

“Thanks to its technological innovations and customer-centric philosophy, ZTE is gaining an increasing allocation of orders for high-end routers from China Telecom,” ZTE said in a statement. “ZTE’s high-end routers are deployed in more than 150 China Telecom MANs in 26 provinces, in addition to the core service sites at the headquarters of China Telecom.”

The vendor said its routers are also deployed in China Mobile’s and China Unicom’s networks, as well as operators in Asia-Pacific, Southeast Asia, Europe, Middle East and Africa.