China Tower Corp Ltd H

Present at today's presentation, we have the chairman of the company, Mr. Zhang Zhiyong, Mr. Chen Li, executive director and general manager, Mr. Gao Chunlei, executive director, and Mr. Hu Shaofeng, our chief accountant. The results presentation will be divided into three parts. First, the Chairman will report the overall performance of the company's 2024 interim results, and then we're going to have the Q&A session. Now, I'm going to give the floor to Chairman Zhang Zhiyong to talk to you about the company's overall performance in the first half of the year. Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. Welcome to our interim results announcement of China Tower. Taking advantage of this opportunity, I'd like to thank you for your long-term support and interest in our company. Present at today's presentation are several management timbers, including Mr. Chen Li, our general manager, Mr. Gao Chunlei, executive director, and Mr. Hu Shaofeng, our chief accountant. The presentation of today will be divided into three parts. Firstly, I'll report the overall performance of the company's 2024 interim results. Then the business performance and financial performance will be introduced by Mr. Chen Li and Mr. Hu Shaofeng, respectively. Finally, we will answer your questions together. So let's take a look at the overall performance. In the first half of the year, the highlights of the company's performance were mainly reflected in the following five aspects. First, operating performance remained healthy, net profit maintained at a double-digit growth, and our cash flow level also improved significantly. Second, the one-call and two-win strategy made steady progress and further fortified our business development with support from multiple pillars. Third, our digital tower empowered thousands of industries with smart tower business continuing to grow rapidly. Fourth, we strengthened the research of key technologies and improved technological innovation capabilities. Fifth, we will be distributing the first interim dividend, sharing the fruits of the company's development with our shareholders. For the next slide, we have the key indicators. And we always share such a slide with our friends during each of our presentation. In the first half of the year, operating revenue was RMB 48.25 billion. an increase of 3.8% year-on-year. Net profit was RMB 5.33 billion, an increase of 10.1% year-on-year. EBITDA was RMB 33.05 billion, increasing 3.2%. As of the end of June 2024, the number of tenants reached 3.731 million and the total tenancy ratio was 1.8. The level of co-location continued to enhance. In 2024, the company's cash flow level improved significantly. In the first half of the year, net cash generated from operating activities was RMB 32.83 billion, an increase of RMB 21.28 billion year-on-year. Free cash flow was RMB 19.1 billion, an increase of RMB 20.37 billion year-on-year. So you can see that we have all red arrows on the slide. So our overall operating performance was excellent for the first half of the year. So you can see that our encore twins business have made steady growth. For our TSP business, It reached RMB 42.12 billion, accounting for 87.3 percent of the total revenue. Revenue from the two-winds business responded to RMB 6.01 billion, accounting for 12.4 percent of total revenue. So the one-coin, two-wind strategy made steady progress as a whole. In terms of our TSP business, The company strengthened its advantages in resource coordination and sharing, and enhanced operational efficiencies, innovative products and service solutions, helping TSP customers improve the breadth and depth of 5G network coverage, thus realizing a sustained and stable growth. In terms of our tower business, 329,000 5G base stations were built in the first half of the year, bringing the total number of 5G base stations to 2.676 million, making China's 5G network deployment a world leader. Regarding our DAS business, 1.39 billion square meters of areas of buildings were newly added, making the total coverage reaching over 11.5 billion square meters. The newly added coverage for subways and high-speed railway tunnels were 2,313 kilometers, making the total coverage reaching 26,385 kilometers. The area covered by the DS business continued to expand, which further drove the growth of our DS business. In terms of smart tower business, the company deepened the development in key areas, such as environment protection, water resources, and emergency response, and continue to drive mid-high point set resources to support digital intelligence governance in various industries. We also further enhanced the construction of the tower monitoring network, research and development of algorithms, and iterated and upgraded industry application products to maintain leadership in various niche markets of digital governance. We also strengthened professional operation and maintenance capabilities and continue to improve customer satisfaction under the guidance of companion service and further improve the smart tower business. In the first half of the year, revenue from the smart tower business was close to $4 billion. In fact, it's RMB $3.98 billion, to be exact, an increase of 17.6% year-on-year. For energy business, firstly, we focus on industries. Battery exchange business focus on courier and delivery markets. While developing the consumer market, we accelerated expansion of customer base in industries to maintain market leadership. Power backup business focused on key industries such as communications and finance. and other key industries, targeting quality corporate customers and achieving sound business development. Secondly, we have product optimization. We promoted large-scale applications of next-generation battery exchange products and developed a variety of standardized products such as power security, digital monitoring, and energy consumption management to optimize comprehensive solution for power backup plus. Third is refine operations. We strengthen the deployment and management of batteries and battery exchange cabinets to promote cascade utilization of batteries and further explore asset value. We also deepen user operations, hierarchical and classified management, and provide differentiated services. Fourth is quality service. We'll continue to build energy service brand of China Tower by enhancing online and offline service capabilities. In the first half of the year, the energy business generated revenue of RMB 2.02 billion, an increase of 2.4 percent year on year. So maybe the growth speed was not as fast as previous years due to some one-off events, which Mr. Zhang will talk about shortly. For power backup, for major events like UNICEF in Chengdu. It's a major event last year. As I mentioned, this is a one-off event. So that's why the growth was not as fast as previous years. The next slide described the fact that the company continued to deepen reform and upgrading to consolidate the foundation for high-quality development in the first half of the year. First, the company promoted the digital intelligence transformation and upgrading, further improved management efficiency, and standardization accelerated the digitalization of enterprises. Secondly, the company continued to deepen the tenure system and contract management, further increased the introduction and training of scientific research talents, and promoted the optimization of the talent structure, and enhanced the incentive policies related to the core talents to stimulate the vitality of the workforce. Thirdly, the company accelerated the strategic deployment in emerging industries, actively expanding new businesses such as digital intelligent IoT, edge computing, and green energy storage. Fourthly, the company actively promoted enterprises with high quality by improving the quality of projects and products and building a quality management system for customer service. Fifthly, the company pushed forward a market-oriented operating mechanism, improved the four-in-one management system, promoted the improvement of tenure system and contract management to stimulate the motivation for high-quality development within the company. The company pushed forward technological innovation in the first half of the year. from the following three aspects. Firstly, the company focused on product application R&D in key areas such as 5G, 6G, IoT, and edge computing, and also built six technological innovation centers. and we continue to invest in R&D. Secondly, the company gathered premium innovative resources, deepened and expanded cooperation and innovation with key higher education institutions, scientific research institutions, and technological-based enterprises, and continued to expand the technological innovation ecosystem of the company. Thirdly, the company aimed to lead in technology, strengthen the tackling of key technology hurdles. The patents were granted increased by 106 percent year on year. The company also promoted three ITU international standards. The next slide showed the company has always attached great importance to giving back to our shareholders and has adopted an active dividend policy that insists on sharing the fruits of its development with all shareholders. Based on our cash flow and our profitability, the board recommended to pay an interim dividend for the first time at RMB 0.0109 per share. The payout ratio in cash for the whole year of 2024 shall not be less than 75% of last year. In the future, the company will continue to accumulate development momentum, improve profitability, and create greater value for our shareholders. The company has always been concerned about its ESG and has been concerned about the harmonious coexistence of the economy, society, and the environment, and has therefore integrated the concepts of social responsibility into its development. For corporate governance, the company has continuously improved its corporate governance mechanisms, improved its risk and compliance internal control management system, and actively communicated with investors to ensure the company's sustainable development through sound corporate governance. In terms of environmental protection, it has saved more than RMB 200 billion in investment and reducing carbon emissions by around 30 million tons through co-sharing. It has also contributed to the construction of ecological civilization by promoting digital intelligence technologies, thus contributing to the construction of green ecological civilization. In terms of social responsibility, it has ensured the provision of high-quality communications for natural disaster emergency and rescue works, assisting in disaster prevention and reduction, and ensuring the safety of people and property with its smart tower platform. It also continues to optimize the construction of communication infrastructure in remote areas to help narrow the digital divide. Looking ahead, national projects such as gigabit signal upgrade and broadband frontier will be further promoted, and the demand for digital infrastructure construction will continue to be released. National strategies such as Beautiful China, Digital China, and Rural Revitalization have broad opportunities for the expansion and development of digital application scenarios. The goal of carbon picking and carbon neutrality will accelerate the development of new energy industry and the green and low-carbon transformation. The company will continue to adhere to the philosophy of shared development and deepen the implementation of the one-coin, two-win strategy. Regarding the TSP business, the company will fully support the construction of information communication and digital infrastructure to promote the continuous and stable development of the business. As for the two-win business, the company will actively serve digital governance and green and low-carbon transformation, promoting the rapid growth of the two-win business to bring greater returns to shareholders, customers, and society. So that's what I'd like to present to you on the overall performance of the company. Now I'm going to invite Mr. Chen Li, general manager of the company, to present on the details of the company's business performance. Thank you, Chairman Zhang. I will present the company's business performance in the first half of the year. This table shows the revenue and changes in our businesses, as well as key operating data. And I'm going to explain them in greater detail. During the first half of the year, the overall development of the company's various business was sound, and the revenue growth supported by multiple pillars was further consolidated. operating revenue reached RMB 48.25 billion, an increase of 3.8 percent year-on-year. In terms of revenue structure, the TSP business contributed 68.1 percent of revenue, of which the tower business maintained stable development. with an incremental contribution of 26.7 percent, driving revenue growth by one percentage point. The DAS business developed rapidly with an incremental contribution of 41.4 percent, stimulating revenue growth by 1.6 percentage points. The incremental revenue contribution of the Two Winds business was 36.1 percent, of which the smart tower business contributed 33.4 percent, driving revenue growth by 1.2 percentage points. The energy business further optimized the development structure and contributed 2.7 percent of the growth in the first half of the year. Next, I will discuss the development of our key businesses in detail. Firstly, the tower business. The company focused on customer needs to develop the business steadily. Firstly, we improved mechanisms and processes and discussed solutions, delivery, and unleash plans with customers to meet their needs in a comprehensive and efficient manner. Second, the company used innovative support tools to visualize plant sites and network coverage, enabling the precise implementation of the 5G network plan of our customers. Thirdly, the company stepped up efforts to tackle difficult sites, help customers to address their pain points, and improve customer satisfaction. In the first half of the year, revenue from the tower business reached RMB 37.96 billion, a year-on-year increase of 1.3 percent. As of the end of June, the number of TSP tenants reached 3.493 million, an increase of 2% over the same period last year. The TSP tar tenancy ratio increased from 1.67 in the same period last year to 1.71 as a result of further improvements achieved through co-location. In terms of the DAS business, the company sees the opportunity provided by the implementation of national co-build and co-share policies and the national standards for engineering construction. national standards for engineering construction has been formulated. We also focus on key business scenarios with coordinated construction and site entry and make full use of its comprehensive cost advantage to provide better services to support the segment for DAS construction demand. The company continued to strengthen its product solution design capabilities. Different shared product innovation provide customers with active plus passive DS sharing solutions and further explore shared value. The company combined customer network construction strategies and launched the coverage in lifts, underground car parks, and the high-speed rail 5G coverage special project to drive signal strength upgrade and improve customer satisfaction. In the first half of the year, the company's revenue from the DAS business was RMB 4.164 billion, a year-on-year increase of 21.6 percent, and continued to maintain a rapid growth trend. Regarding the smart tower business, the company focused on spatial digital governance in key areas. and leverage the company's advantages such as its mid- to high-point tower-side resource platform capabilities and advanced algorithms, continue to promote the upgrade of telecommunication towers and shelters to digital towers and digital shelters, provide end-to-end services for various industries. The company closely monitored customer needs, promoted product iteration and upgrades for industry applications, and provided digital solutions for various industries, such as land emergency, environmental protection, water resources, agriculture, and transportation. The digital service capability further strengthened. In the first half of the year, smart tower business maintained rapid growth, in which revenue from the tower monitoring business reached RMB 2.51 billion, a year-on-year increase of 20.9%, accounting for 63% of the total revenue of the smart tower business. Revenue from the tower sharing business reached RMB 1.47 billion, a year-on-year increase of 12.4%. In the first half of the year, the power continued to consolidate its core advantages in platforms, algorithms, products, services, and cooperative innovation to excel in smart power business. Firstly, the company built a strong platform foundation and realized distributed platform deployment and centralized data operation to provide comprehensive capability interfaces and continuously improve platform sharing capability. Secondly, the company used the unique mid to high point level sample library. and built an algorithm library providing over 160 distinctive mid- to high-point characteristics and serving multiple AI analysis scenarios. Thirdly, the company adopted a self-developed and ecosystem-oriented R&D approach to enhance product iteration capabilities and continuously enrich the product line for industrial applications. leading the market with smart solutions in various industries such as forest protection, straw burning protection, fishery protection, and farmland protection. Fourthly, the company strengthened localization capabilities, built a professional network management platform, connecting all customers, access and maintenance, monitoring and order dispatching, continuously improving customer satisfaction. Fifthly, it promoted industry-wide innovation cooperation and collaborated with top universities and scientific research institutes in various fields to conduct technological research in the field of spatial digital intelligence governance to drive industrial development. As for battery exchange business, the company actively optimized the layout of the battery exchange network. continuously accelerated product iteration and upgrading continued to strengthen market competitiveness and maintain steady growth in the number of users. In addition, through the construction of a user service model, it conducted tiered and classified user operation management and provided differentiated user service programs, improved service quality, and enhanced customer stickiness. As of 30th June, 2024, the company has launched its battery exchange service in more than 300 cities, with the number of users reaching 1.217 million, an increase of 72,000 from the end of last year. In addition, The company actively seized the opportunity of the introduction of relevant national policies on safe charging, gave full play to its own capabilities, promoted the economical and efficient layout of community charging infrastructure, providing safe and convenient low-speed electric vehicle charging services for urban residents. In the first half of the year, revenue from the battery exchange business was RMB 1.16 billion, a year-on-year increase of 18.4 percent. It continued to maintain its leading position in the market. Regarding the power backup business, Adhering to the service-oriented power backup model, the company intensified its expansion in key industries, focused on typical scenarios, and strengthened the acquisition of high-quality customers in the industry. With standardized power backup products as the core, it combined digital monitoring, energy consumption, and safety services to form a comprehensive power backup plus solution, promoting the healthy development of power backup business. In the first half of the year, revenue from the power backup business reached RMB 720 million, down 12.9 percent. As Chairman Zhang mentioned earlier, we have a major event in Chengdu last year. And we switched from an integrated model to a service model now, excluding the one-off revenue impact of the Fushu World University Games in the same period last year. It increased by 2 percent year-on-year. Next, our chief accountant, Mr. Hu Shaofeng, will introduce the company's financial performance. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chen. Dear friends, good afternoon. Now let me walk you through the company's financial performance in the first half of 2024. This table shows the company's key financial indicators for the first half of 2024. In the first half of the year, the company achieved good overall business performance with steady revenue growth. Profitability continued to improve, cash flow improved significantly, and our financial position remained healthy. The company has carried out special campaigns in cost benchmarking, quality and efficiency improvement, thus continuously improving the utilization efficiency of cost and expenses. In the first half of 2024, operating expenses were RMB 40.1 billion, an increase of 2.7 percent over the same period last year. The operating expense to revenue ratio decreased to 83.1 percent from 84 percent in the same period last year. Depreciation and amortization amounted to RMB $24.9 billion, an increase of 1.2% year-on-year. This was mainly due to the company's effective investment base on its business development and capacity building needs, as well as its efforts to actively strengthen the life extension of assets and ensure the continued operating of aged assets. Repair and maintenance expenses were RMB $3.4 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 4.6%. mainly due to the company's continuous efforts in conducting special campaigns to inspect potential safety hazards of assets promoting the upgrading and skilled application of intelligent operation and maintenance functions. Site operation support expense was RMB 2.9 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of RMB 380 million, mainly due to a year-on-year increase of RMB 150 million in site operation expense such as expansion of indoor coverage. and underground parking lots, long-term site lease charges, and electricity fee. There have been a year-end increase of RMB 160 million IT support expense related to site operations. Other operating expenses were RMB 4.53 billion, an increase of 3.8 percent over the same period last year, mainly due to a year-end increase of technical support service and sales expense of the two-inch business. The company achieved stable growth in operating income and effectively managed cost and expenses, further strengthening its profitability. Operating profit in the first half of the year reached RMB 8.15 billion, a year-on-year increase of 9.9 percent. Operating profit margin achieved a year-on-year increase of 0.9 percentage point and EBITDA increased by 3.2 percent year-on-year to RMB 33.05 billion. Net profit was RMB 5.33 billion, an increase of 10.1 percent over the previous year. Net profit margin increased by 0.6%. The company accelerated the acceleration of CapEx based on the needs of its business development and building capabilities. CapEx in the first half of the year was RMB 13.73 billion, an increase of 7.1% over the same period last year. In terms of new site construction and augmentation, the company fully captured the demand for 5G tower base station construction due to the impact from increasing the number of new sites and the rapid growth of DAS business in key scenarios. The capital expansion for new site construction and augmentation was 8.035 billion, up 18.1% year-on-year. For site replacement and improvement, the company strived to enhance the long-term service capability of assets based on the operating condition of the physical assets to implement rectification of safety hazard and replacement and improvement. The capex for set replacement improvement was RMB 3.2 billion down by 13.5% over the same period last year. We precisely allocated resources in the two-way business based on business needs and continue to build platforms, implement product iteration, upgrading capex for the two-way business for the first half of the year. was RMB 1.88 billion, an increase of 1.2 percent over the same period of last year. In terms of IT support R&D, we focus on developing product applications and solution for key segments, strengthening core technological research. The company has continued to increase the R&D investment and enhance the competitiveness of products. Our net cash flow for operating activities was RMB 32.83 billion in the first half of the year, a year increase of 21.5 28 billion RMB and a surge of RMB 11.55 billion. Our free cash flow was RMB 19.1 million in the first half of the year, increasing by RMB 16.71 billion from the second half of this year. As at 30th June 2024, the company's liability to asset ratio was 38 percent, a decrease of 4 percentage points. The gain ratio was 29.4 percent, a decrease of 2 percentage points over the end of last year. The company's overall capital structure remained healthy. In the second half of the year, the company will seize the development opportunities, further deepen the 1.2 wins strategy, continuously enhance the management capability, and promote continuous profitability improvement. Thank you.