Huawei net surges past US$1bln mark [China Daily]

Chinese telecom equipment maker Huawei Technologies said yesterday its net profit jumped 20 percent in 2008, driven by strong overseas sales in emerging markets and improved profit margins.

Its robust profit growth is in stark contrast to other global telecom gear makers who have all reported plunging profits or huge losses amid the global financial crisis.

The Shenzhen-based company, now the world's third biggest telecom gear maker, chalked up US$1.15 billion in net income for 2008 against US$957 million in 2007, while its revenue surged 43 percent from a year earlier to US$18.3 billion.

"This is actually a fast growth figure considering others are in sharp decline," said Duncan Clark, chairman of BDA China, a leading consulting and market research firm that focuses on the telecom, media and technology sectors.

Huawei's operating profit margin increased by 3 percentage points to 13 percent, the company yesterday said in its annual report.

Huawei, which now gets 75 percent of its sales revenue from abroad, expects to sign contracts worth US$30 billion this year, up 29 percent from last year's.

The company got 46 percent more contracts in 2008 (worth US$23 billion) as it continued to gain market share in emerging markets.