Citigroup reported that CHINA UNICOM (00762) posted revenue and EBITDA below market expectations for the previous year, with net profit falling short of both the bank's and market forecasts. Fourth-quarter revenue was 3% lower than market expectations, while service revenue missed estimates by 4%. Although Q4 EBITDA exceeded market expectations by 1.6%, net profit plunged 48.5% to RMB 820 million, significantly underperforming market expectations by 49.5%. The bank maintained its target price of HKD 11.2 and a "Buy" rating.

For the full year, total capital expenditure dropped 11.4% year-on-year to RMB 54.2 billion, slightly below the initial guidance of RMB 55 billion. The company has guided for total capital expenditure of approximately RMB 50 billion in the current year, representing a decrease of about 7.7% compared to the previous year. CHINA UNICOM expects stable growth in revenue, profit, and return on equity (ROE) this year and will continue to focus on its four core strategic priorities: connectivity, computing power, services, and security.