Hutchison Telecommunications (HTX) announced strong growth in the group's results for the six months ended June 30, 2005.

The group's underlying operating profit before disposal of investments and others reached HK$1,014 million, a 297.6% increase compared with the first half of 2004, boosted by strong operating results in India and Israel and a reduction of losses in Thailand.

All markets reported growth in customer base, which rose overall by 30.9% to 14.1 million. The vigorous growth in worldwide customer base fuelled the surge in the Group's turnover to HK$10,757 million, an increase of 56.1% compared with the same period a year earlier.

EBITDA increased 84.8% to HK$2,831 million and EBITDA margins improved to 26.3% from 22.2%. The group recorded a loss attributable to equity holders of the company of HK$352 million, or HK$0.08 loss per share, after it took a net loss on disposal of investments and others of HK$295 million, finance costs of HK$612 million and a taxation charge of about HK$318 million.

During the first half of 2005, the Group strengthened its operations with a number of key strategic initiatives to build Hutchison Telecom into a leading provider of telecommunications services in Asia and developing markets elsewhere. These included expansion into Indonesia and Vietnam; reorganisation of the Indian operations; increasing ownership in existing operations in Israel and in the Hong Kong fixed-line business; and the sale of the operations in Paraguay.