HUAWEI Technologies Co. Ltd., the world’s No. 2 telecom equipment maker, said yesterday it will achieve sustainable growth in 2014 after posting a 19 percent jump in first-half revenue to 135.8 billion yuan (US$21.88 billion).

    The Shenzhen-based company also said it expected to generate an operating margin of 18.3 percent in the first six months of 2014. The company did not elaborate in its brief statement.

    “Driven by increasing investments in LTE networks worldwide, Huawei has further solidified its leadership position in mobile broadband,” Huawei’s CFO Cathy Meng said in the statement.

    “Rapid growth in software and services helped maintain steady growth in our carrier network business.”

    Meng said Huawei achieved “sustainable growth” in its consumer business, which includes smartphone manufacturing, thanks to better brand awareness.

    Huawei’s sales growth in the first half, which the company said was in line with its expectations, comes after a 222 percent to 270 percent jump in first-half net profits flagged by cross-town competitor ZTE Corp. last week.

    ZTE attributed the growth to improving margins and revenue from new contracts for China’s next-generation telecoms network.

    Last year, Huawei reported a 10.8 percent rise in its first-half revenue. The company reported 12.2 percent growth in its operating margin in 2013.

    Huawei earlier this year set a target revenue of US$70 billion yuan by 2018, or annual growth of about 10 percent a year, after posting 8.6 percent growth last year.(SD-Agencies)