CHINA TOWER (00788) shares fell more than 5% following its earnings release, trading at HK$9.22 as of press time, down 5.14%, with a turnover of HK$62.27 million. According to the company's interim results, the first-half revenue was RMB 48.693 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 1.8%, while net profit attributable to shareholders rose 30.1% to RMB 7.489 billion.

Notably, the company's operating cash flow in the first half was RMB 7.135 billion, a decrease of RMB 21.544 billion compared to the same period last year, primarily due to extended payment cycles from customers and increased collections via promissory notes. Free cash flow for the first half turned negative at RMB -4.515 billion, a decline of RMB 20.802 billion year-on-year.

CHINA TOWER Executive Director and Chairman Zhang Zhiyong stated that the company's first-half revenue dropped 1.8% year-on-year, which he described as a temporary phase. This was mainly driven by the decommissioning of 4G shared networks built by China Telecom and China Unicom, along with the impact of simplified tower renovations. These effects are expected to end by this year or next. He projected that the company's tower business and in-building distributed antenna system business will remain roughly flat or see a slight decline year-on-year.