Huawei bullish about five-year growth plan after solid FY12

Chinese monolith expecting double-digit CAGR after homeland success fuelled eight per cent top-line growth last year

Huawei is forecasting a double-digit compound annual growth rate over the next five years after a 2012 in which sales grew a robust eight per cent.

For the 2012 calendar year the Chinese giant's revenue rose to 220.2bn Chinese yuan (CNY) (£23.2bn), up from CNY203.9bn in the prior year. Net profit jumped 32 per cent to CNY15.4bn, equating to net margins of about seven per cent.

The vendor's largest region by 2012 revenue was EMEA, with a top line of CNY77.4bn, although sales growth of 6.1 per cent was behind the company-wide average. The Americas and Asia-Pacific saw revenue grow 4.3 and 7.2 per cent to CNY31.8bn and CNY37.4bn respectively. Huawei's homeland of China posted the biggest increase, with turnover spiking 12.2 per cent to CNY73.6bn.

The vendor garners 72.7 per cent of its sales from its Carrier Network business group, but revenue here grew a comparatively modest 6.7 per cent to CNY160.1bn. The Consumer unit saw turnover jump 8.4 per cent to CNY48.4bn, while the relatively small Enterprise division posted the most stellar growth, with sales expanding 25.8 per cent to CNY11.5bn.

Last year Huawei ploughed CNY30.09bn – 13.7 per cent of turnover – into research and development. During the next five years Huawei expects to enjoy a top-line compound annual growth rate of 10 per cent.

Acting chief executive Guo Ping said: "In 2012, Huawei met business performance expectations through improved operational efficiency. Today, telecom networks are yet to meet the requirements for ubiquitous connections – zero wait time, ultra broadband, and smart applications.

"In the future, ICT will continue to grow, with new opportunities coming from cloud computing, BYOD and big data, and feature phones being replaced by smartphones at a faster rate."