Economic rebound lifts China Mobile call traffic

By Joanne Chiu

SHENZHEN, China (Reuters) - China Mobile, the world's top mobile carrier by subscribers, said on Thursday its call traffic has bounced back to pre-global downturn levels, lifted by a rebounding economy.

China Mobile's international business dropped during the crisis but has now returned to normal levels, Chairman Wang Jianzhou said at an event in the southern Chinese city Shenzhen.

A return of migrant workers to big cities, following their mass departures as work dried up during the downturn, is also helping to drive calling traffic, he added.

"The financial crisis has mostly passed, and we are now basically back to normal levels," he said. "The biggest factor before was a drop in international business, but now that's recovered to normal levels."

Shares of China Mobile and its two main rivals, China Unicom and China Telecom have been relative laggards on Hong Kong's stock market this year, amid concerns about growing competition under a recent industry overhaul that has eroded average revenue per user (ARPU).

China Mobile shares are flat this year, while Unicom and China Telecom shares are up 13 percent and 23 percent, respectively, all well behind a 57 percent jump for the broader Hang Seng Index.

The trio mostly command price-to-earnings premiums over their global peers due to their stronger growth prospects. China Mobile trades at 12 times its 2010 forecast earnings, while Unicom trades at 27 times and China Telecom trades at 15 times.

By comparison, global titan Vodafone trades at 9 times, while U.S. carrier Verizon trades at 12 times.