Citigroup: China Unicom's First-quarter Performance Falls Short of Expectations, Rated "Buy"

Citigroup released a research report stating that China Unicom's performance in the first quarter of this year fell below expectations. The total revenue for the period fell by 0.5% year-on-year to 102.8 billion RMB, 1% lower than market expectations; EBITDA fell by 6.6% year-on-year to 24.3 billion RMB, 7% lower than market expectations; net profit fell by 17.6% year-on-year to 4.9 billion RMB. Operating expenses increased by 2.8% year-on-year, mainly due to rising employee costs. Citigroup has given China Unicom's H shares a "buy" rating with a target price of 11.2 Hong Kong dollars.