Earnings Update: China Unicom (Hong Kong) Limited (HKG:762) Just Reported Its Interim Results And Analysts Are Updating Their Forecasts

China Unicom (Hong Kong) Limited (HKG:762) shareholders are probably feeling a little disappointed, since its shares fell 4.6% to HK$9.44 in the week after its latest interim results. It looks like the results were a bit of a negative overall. While revenues of CN¥200b were in line with analyst predictions, statutory earnings were less than expected, missing estimates by 2.1% to hit CN¥0.47 per share. This is an important time for investors, as they can track a company's performance in its report, look at what experts are forecasting for next year, and see if there has been any change to expectations for the business. Readers will be glad to know we've aggregated the latest statutory forecasts to see whether the analysts have changed their mind on China Unicom (Hong Kong) after the latest results.

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After the latest results, the 15 analysts covering China Unicom (Hong Kong) are now predicting revenues of CN¥400.9b in 2025. If met, this would reflect a credible 2.2% improvement in revenue compared to the last 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are predicted to rise 2.7% to CN¥0.71. Before this earnings report, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of CN¥401.2b and earnings per share (EPS) of CN¥0.72 in 2025. The consensus analysts don't seem to have seen anything in these results that would have changed their view on the business, given there's been no major change to their estimates.

Check out our latest analysis for China Unicom (Hong Kong)

The analysts reconfirmed their price target of HK$11.51, showing that the business is executing well and in line with expectations. It could also be instructive to look at the range of analyst estimates, to evaluate how different the outlier opinions are from the mean. There are some variant perceptions on China Unicom (Hong Kong), with the most bullish analyst valuing it at HK$15.55 and the most bearish at HK$9.20 per share. This is a fairly broad spread of estimates, suggesting that analysts are forecasting a wide range of possible outcomes for the business.

Looking at the bigger picture now, one of the ways we can make sense of these forecasts is to see how they measure up against both past performance and industry growth estimates. It's pretty clear that there is an expectation that China Unicom (Hong Kong)'s revenue growth will slow down substantially, with revenues to the end of 2025 expected to display 4.4% growth on an annualised basis. This is compared to a historical growth rate of 5.9% over the past five years. Juxtapose this against the other companies in the industry with analyst coverage, which are forecast to grow their revenues (in aggregate) 3.3% per year. Even after the forecast slowdown in growth, it seems obvious that China Unicom (Hong Kong) is also expected to grow faster than the wider industry.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing to take away is that there's been no major change in sentiment, with the analysts reconfirming that the business is performing in line with their previous earnings per share estimates. Happily, there were no major changes to revenue forecasts, with the business still expected to grow faster than the wider industry. The consensus price target held steady at HK$11.51, with the latest estimates not enough to have an impact on their price targets.

Following on from that line of thought, we think that the long-term prospects of the business are much more relevant than next year's earnings. We have forecasts for China Unicom (Hong Kong) going out to 2027, and you can see them free on our platform here.

Don't forget that there may still be risks. For instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for China Unicom (Hong Kong) that you should be aware of.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.