China's ZTE posts 1.1 billion first-half loss on impact from U.S. supplier ban

HONG KONG (Reuters) - ZTE Corp reported a first-half net loss of 7.8 billion yuan ($1.1 billion) on Thursday, weighed down by a ban on U.S. firms selling parts to the Chinese telecom equipment maker that forced it to cease operations for three months.

The result compared with the 7 billion to 9 billion yuan net loss estimate disclosed last month, and the 2.3 billion yuan profit booked in the same period a year earlier.

Operating revenue in the first half fell 27.0 percent to 39.4 billion yuan.

In June, the network equipment and smartphone maker paid the United States $1.4 billion in penalties in a deal to have the supplier ban lifted. The ban, imposed in April in relation to sanction violations, crippled ZTE and became a source of friction in Sino-U.S. trade talks.

 

($1 = 6.8300 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Sijia Jiang and Twinnie Siu; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Edmund Blair)