Innovation and Sharing Drive High-Quality Development Net Profit Increases by 11%, Dividend Payout Increases by 15.7%

HONG KONG SAR - Media OutReach Newswire - 18 March 2024 - The world's largest telecommunications infrastructure service provider China Tower Corporation Limited ("China Tower", or the "Company") (Stock Code: 0788.HK) is pleased to announce its annual results for the year ended 31 December 2023. Performance Highlights

RMB Million	2023	2022	Change
Operating revenue	94,009	92,170	2.0%
EBITDA	63,551	62,844	1.1%
Profit attributable to owners of the Company	9,750	8,787	11.0%
Basic earnings per share (RMB yuan)	0.0558	0.0503	10.9%
Dividend per share (RMB yuan)	0.03739	0.03232	15.7%
Key operating data
Number of tower sites (thousand)	2,046	2,055	-0.4%
Number of tower tenants (thousand)	3,658	3,583	2.1%
Tenancy ratio (tenants / tower site)	1.79	1.74	2.9%

The Company's operating revenue maintained stable growth. During the year, our operating revenue grew by 2.0% to RMB94,009 million, after excluding the impact of the Commercial Pricing Agreements, revenue increased by 6.0% to RMB97,723 million on a comparable basis over the same period last year. EBITDA[1] reached RMB63,551 million, an increase of 1.1% year-on-year, with an EBITDA margin[2] of 67.6%. Profit attributable to owners of the Company was RMB9,750 million, representing 11.0% year-on-year growth with a net profit margin of 10.4%, demonstrating further enhanced profitability. Our net cash generated from operating activities for 2023 was RMB32,840 million. Capital expenditures stood at RMB31,715 million, with free cash flow[3] reaching RMB1,125 million. As of 31 December 2023, our total assets reached RMB326,007 million, with interest-bearing liabilities of RMB94,626 million and a gearing ratio[4] of 31.4%. Our capital structure remained healthy. We remain committed to providing consistent and stable returns to shareholders. After considering our profitability and cash flow during the period under review, and future needs for development and capital, the board of directors of the Company has recommended a final dividend of RMB0.03739 per share (pre-tax) for the year ended 31 December 2023, equivalent to a payout ratio of 75% of our annual distributable net profit for the year under review. Further strengthened market leadership in TSP business on a solid foundation 5G network penetration and coverage in China continued to expand in 2023 and we were able to capture the opportunities this presented. By strengthening resource coordination and sharing, and enhancing operational efficiencies, we were able to meet customer network construction needs in an intensive and effective manner. By doing so, we have further strengthened the foundation for high-quality development. In 2023, our TSP business recorded revenue of RMB82,163 million, a decrease of 1.0% year-on-year. Tower business. Focusing on 5G network construction, we harnessed public policy support to unleash and share public and cross-sector resources. These initiatives helped reduce entry barriers and costs, therefore reinforced our competitiveness in resource coordination. Through increased sharing of existing site resources, wider use of social resources and greater effort in promoting the adoption of our integrated wireless communications coverage solutions, we have been able to effectively support the accelerated 5G network extension. We completed approximately 586,000 5G construction demand in 2023, of which more than 95% were achieved by sharing existing resources. We proactively captured the new construction demand for low-frequency network and network optimization, as well as stepping up our efforts in tackling difficult sites. This has effectively supported the stable growth of our Tower business. Leveraging our knowledge of construction features for comprehensive 5G coverage, we continued to launch innovative solutions for low-cost construction, products and services to satisfy customer demand economically and effectively. In 2023, our revenue from our Tower business was RMB75,023 million, a decrease of 2.8% from the previous year. However, after excluding the impact of the Commercial Pricing Agreements, our revenue increased by 2.0% year-on-year to RMB78,737 million on a comparable basis. As of 31 December 2023, the Company was managing a total of 2.046 million tower sites, a decrease of 9,000 from the end of the year before. We have gained 62,000 new TSP tenants since the end of 2022, bringing the total number of TSP tenants to 3.424 million. Our TSP tenancy ratio increased from 1.65 at the end of 2022 to 1.68 as a result of further improvements achieved through co-location. DAS business. The implementation of "co-build and...