Huawei profits hit by US sanctions

Huawei today reported a 3.8% rise in sales last year as its Chinese operations helped offset the fall in business from US sanctions.

The Chinese tech company which is being banned from Britain’s 5G network, saw net profit up just 3.2% to $9.9 billion from turnover of $136.7 billion, up 3.8% on the year.

Ken Hu, Huawei’s “rotating chairman” said: “Over the past year we’ve held strong in the face of adversity.”

Quarterly profits fell for the first time on record as the bans on trading forced it to move from smartphones to other technologies.

The final quarter of the year saw reported revenue fall 11% to $33.5 billion, down from 3.7% growth in the September quarter and 23% in the second, according to Bloomberg calculations.

Billionaire founder Ren Zhengfei has moved Huawei away from phones and into smart agriculture, electric cars and other areas.