China Telecom profit up by 5 percent in the first three quarters

China Telecom (0728) posted a 5 percent year-on-year rise in net profit to 30.8 billion yuan (HK$33.63 billion) in the first three quarters of the year. 

Operating revenues in the period inched up by 0.6 percent to 397 billion yuan, of which service revenues went up by 0.9 percent to 366.3 billion yuan. 

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, was 115.6 billion yuan, representing an increase of 4.2 percent year-on-year. 

The telecom giant had 437.2 million mobile subscribers as of the end of September, up by 12.67 million from December.