On March 29, China Unicom (NYSE:CHU) released fourth-quarter and calendar year 2006 earnings for the period ended Dec. 31.

  • Excluding the one-time unrealized loss from exchange rates on $1 billion of convertible bonds sold to South Korea's SK Telecom (NYSE:SKM), earnings would have recorded a 25.2% growth.
  • An 11.4% growth in new subscribers, driven primarily by GSM services, contributed to an 8.3% boost in revenue.
  • Management announced an increase in the firm's dividend of 63.6%.
  • The Motley Fool CAPS community has given China Unicom four stars. Meanwhile its main rivals, China Mobile (NYSE:CHL) and China Telecom (NYSE:CHA), both boast the maximum five-star rating.

(Figures in millions, except per-share data, and converted at the rate of $1 = 7.7302 Chinese Yuan Renminbi as of April 2, 2007 for both 2005 and 2006 figures. One ADR is equivalent to ten local shares.)

Income Statement Highlights

Fiscal Year 2006

Fiscal Year 2005

Change

Sales

$12,198.2

$11,260.9

8.3%

Net Profit

$482.8

$637.9

(24.3%)

EPS

$0.04

$0.05

(23.1%)

Earnings per ADR

$0.39

$0.50

(23.1%)

Diluted Shares

12,649.3

12,607.5

0.3%

Get back to basics with the income statement.

Margin Checkup

Fiscal Year 2006

Fiscal Year 2005

Change*

Operating Margin

9.4%

8.2%

1.3%

Net Margin

4%

5.7%

(1.7%)

*Expressed in percentage points.

Margins are the earnings engine.

Balance Sheet Highlights

Assets

Fiscal Year 2006

Fiscal Year 2005

Change

Cash + ST Invest.

$1,601.2

$744.4

115.1%

Accounts Rec.

$442.3

$588.4

(24.8%)

Inventory

$301.9

$272.7

10.7%

Liabilities

Fiscal Year 2006

Fiscal Year 2005

Change

Accounts Payable

$3,401.0

$2,396.7

41.9%

Long-Term Debt

$1,871.1

$1,550.0

20.7%

The balance sheet reflects the company's health.

Cash Flow Highlights

 2006

 2005

Change

Cash From Ops.

$4,586.1

$3,984.9

15.1%

Capital Expenditures

$2,166.2

$2,153.0

0.6%

Free Cash Flow

$2,419.9

$1,831.9

32.1%

Free cash flow is a Fool's best friend.

Related Foolishness:

SK Telecom is a Motley Fool Global Gains selection.

Fool by Numbers is designed to give you the raw earnings information in a timely fashion, putting all the numbers you need in one easy-to-read place. But at The Motley Fool, we believe numbers tell only part of the story, so check Fool.com for more of our in-depth discussion of what the numbers mean. This data has been provided by Netscribes. To provide feedback on this article, please click on the "feedback" button below.