China Telecom seeking listing in Shanghai

China Telecom, one of three top telecommunications carriers in China, plans to list in Shanghai, the HK-listed carrier said on Tuesday. 

The domestic listing will bring China Telecom a new financing channel for 5G construction and business innovations, industry insiders said. It is in the process of delisting from the New York market.

China Telecom will issue up to 12 billion shares in the main board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange to finance a 5G industrial Internet project, cloud business expansion and other innovations, the company said in a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The dual-listing structure, in Shanghai and Hong Kong, will diversify financing channels in both domestic and overseas capital markets, according to the statement. 

China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom were asked to delist from the US market. China Telecom’s domestic pivot is to neutralize the impact of that delisting.

China Telecom is facing capital pressure on 5G base station construction and market competition with bigger rival China Mobile, analysts said.

About 50 percent of mobile connections in China will use 5G technologies by 2025, covering more industrial sectors with mobile infrastructure investment predicted to be 1.36 trillion yuan (US$212.5 billion), industry association GSMA said recently in Shanghai.

In 2021, China Telecom’s 5G capital spending will hit 39.7 billion yuan, slightly higher than the 2020 spending of 39.2 billion yuan, the company said on Tuesday.

China Telecom reported a net profit 20.9 billion yuan with a 1.6 percent growth in 2020. Its revenue reached 393.6 billion yuan, a 4.7 percent growth from year ago. By the end of 2020, the 5G user base reached 86.5 million.