ZTE Corp shares surge 14 percent, forecasts first-quarter rebound

Shares of ZTE Corp rose as much as 14 percent on Thursday after the company forecast a first-quarter profit of up to 1.2 billion yuan (178.18 million U.S. dollars).

The Chinese telecommunications equipment maker said in filings late on Wednesday thatit expected to make a net profit of 800 million to 1.2 billion yuan in the first quarter of 2019, up from a net profit of 276 million yuan in the December quarter.

Hong Kong-listed shares of ZTE jumped as much as 14 percent to 25 HK dollars, while Shenzhen-listed shares rose by the daily maximum limit of 10 percent.

ZTE said its revenue for the quarter ending in December was 26.7 billion yuan, while its full-year revenue dropped 21.4 percent to 85.5 billion yuan, against an average estimate of 87 billion yuan by 12 analysts.

ZTE, the world's fourth-largest telecommunications equipment maker by market share, was forced to stop most business between April and July last year due to U.S. sanctions.

(CGTN)