Huawei has reported 1.4 percent increase in revenue to 182.2 billion yuan or $25.72 billion in Q1 2020, versus 39 percent growth a year ago. Its net profit margin over the period narrowed to 7.3 percent from about 8 percent a year ago.
“The growth rate has slowed, but this is also a resilient performance in the face of both the entity list and the coronavirus we are facing at this moment,” Huawei vice president Victor Zhang said in a statement on Tuesday.
Washington placed Huawei on a blacklist in May last year, citing national security concerns, restricting sales of U.S.-made goods to the company. The Chinese firm turned in its weakest annual profit growth in three years in 2019.
Victoro Zhang said it was difficult to gauge the impact from the coronavirus pandemic, as he presented the results from London rather than Huawei’s Shenzen base to mark 20 years of business in Europe.
Huawei did not reveal revenue details from handset business, telecom network business and enterprise networking business for the first quarter. Huawei had shipped 240 million smartphones in 2019, registering 20 percent increase from 2018.
Huawei earlier said that 2020 would be its most difficult year yet, with United States showing no sign of easing trade restrictions while pressuring its allies to exclude the Chinese company from 5G networks.
Huawei Technologies’ revenue for 2019 rose 18 percent to 850 billion yuan or $121.72 billion, lower than its earlier projections.
Huawei today said the company is taking measures to ensure the safety of its employees in the wake of COVID-19. The company and its supplier network are working together to address the tough challenges facing production and resume operations.
Huawei did not share its guidance on the second quarter of the full year. Huawei said its business is continuing as usual and its overall business results in Q1 2020 are in line with expectations.