Chinese telecom equipment maker ZTE suffered a 3Q net loss of 1.95 billion yuan ($310 million), the company said in a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. That figure was the company's first net loss since it listed on the Hong Kong exchange in 2004, and is down significantly from the 299 million yuan ($48 million) profit it netted in the same period of 2011 . Operating revenue was also down, by 13% to 18 billion yuan ($2.9 billion) from 3Q of last year.
ZTE attributed the loss to a general slowdown in the global telecom equipment market, delays in numerous international projects, and changes in Chinese accounting rules. Several weeks earlier, it had warned that its loss could total up to 2 billion yuan ($318 million).
The quarterly net loss badly affects the company's year-to-date figures. Net loss for the first three quarters of this year stands at 1.7 billion yuan ($270 million), on 60.7 billion yuan ($9.7 billion) in revenue.
In addition to its operational difficulties, ZTE (along with domestic rival Huawei) has been the target of an investigation by the US House of Representatives' intelligence committee regarding the company's activities on the American market.
