New | PCCW profit rises 76pc to HK$3.3b

PCCW reported net profit increased 76 per cent to HK$3.3 billion last year, spurred in part by the gain from the HK$1.3 billion disposal of Pacific Century Place in Beijing.

"The global economy continues to face uncertainties in the new year while local economic growth has slowed down," the company said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange after the market closed yesterday. It called 2015 "a year of both challenges and opportunities".

PCCW, billionaire Richard Li Tzar-kai's flagship company, said its core revenue from HKT, solutions and media, which is led by pay-television provider Now TV increased 24 per cent to HK$33 billion. The company reported yearly results of HKT Trust and HKT, the telecommunications arm of PCCW, on Tuesday. The company announced a final dividend of 13.21 HK cents per share. HKT's net profit jumped 22 per cent from the previous year to HK$3 billion last year while revenue rose 26 per cent to HK$28.8 billion.

It said the media group had been making "good progress in its transformation into a leading digital media and entertainment company" through development of its regional and international content distribution and over-the-top service in Hong Kong. The media business posted a rise of 7 per cent in 2014 revenue to HK$3.2 billion due to improvements in subscription and advertising revenues.

Total installed Now TV subscriber base reached 1.285 million by the end of last year, representing a net gain of 48,000 subscribers or an increase of 4 per cent year on year, according to PCCW. Now TV's exit average revenue per user went up 4 per cent year on year to HK$195 per month, according to the company.

Solutions business, which is its information technology services arm, plans an expansion "in terms of competencies and geographical reach into the US and European markets in the coming year", according to the filing. The solutions sector reported annual revenue of HK$3.4 billion, 14 per cent up from the previous year.