China’s telecoms giant ZTE projected a net loss of Rmb6.2bn-7.2bn ($0.89-1.04bn) for 2018, underscoring the devastating impact of its brief ban on doing business with US companies earlier this year.
The projected loss compares to a 2017 profit of Rmb4.57bn, and was announced with the company’s quarterly results on Thursday after the close of market trading in Hong Kong and Shenzhen, where ZTE is listed.
ZTE and Huawei are by far China’s biggest telecoms equipment companies, and are on an international push to win 5G contracts. But ZTE’s survival was threatened in April after being cut off from its US suppliers. In May it announced it had “ceased operations”.