Great Wall Securities, August 22nd | CITIC Liren's report maintains a target price of 5 Hong Kong dollars for China Telecom (0728.HK) and an "outperform" rating. CITIC Liren stated that China Telecom's performance in the first half of 2024 met expectations. In the first half, total service revenue increased by 4.3% year-on-year to 246.2 billion yuan (RMB) (same below), better than the 3.7% year-on-year increase in the second quarter. With the support of user growth, mobile and broadband revenue remained stable year-on-year in the first half. Due to factors such as slowing depreciation, net profit increased by 8.2% year-on-year to 21.8 billion yuan. The interim dividend payout ratio increased by 16.7% year-on-year to 0.1671 yuan, with a high dividend payout ratio of 70%. The company expects to gradually increase the dividend payout ratio to 75% by 2026, equivalent to a dividend yield of 6.3% this year.