China telecom giant Huawei first half revenue up 40 pc

Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei said on Monday that revenue surged 40 per cent year-on-year in the first half of 2016, boosted by steady growth in smartphone sales.

Total sales revenue reached 245.5 billion yuan ($36.7 billion) in January-June, audited results released in a company statement showed.

The company did not provide a breakdown of the figures.

"We are confident that Huawei will maintain its current momentum, and round out the full year in a positive financial position backed by sound ongoing operations," Huawei chief financial officer Sabrina Meng said.

Huawei is one of the largest providers of network infrastructure globally, but its consumer products are less well-known outside of China.

Its consumer business, including smartphone sales, has strongly supported the company's performance, soaring 73 per cent to 129.1 billion yuan last year.

Huawei had more than eight percent of the world smartphone market last year, putting it in third place behind Samsung and Apple, International Data Corporation (IDC) said in a report this year.

Huawei said in the statement that its consumer business in the first half "maintained steady growth globally". It is set to release sales figures for its smartphone business later this week.

The firm said net profit rose 33 per cent year-on-year in 2015, reaching 36.9 billion yuan, adding that revenue for the year was 395 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 37 per cent.

Huawei is not listed on any stock exchange but it releases financial information in the interest of transparency.

US officials view Huawei as a security threat due to perceived close links to the Chinese government, which the company denies.