It's the largest cell phone provider in the world...
It has more customers than
AT&T (NYSE:
T
)
,
Verizon (NYSE:
VZ
)
and
Sprint (NYSE:
S
)
combined. In fact, with 650 million subscribers, this company has
twice as many customers as the United States has people.
But I doubt you've ever heard of it...
The company I'm talking about is
China Mobile (NYSE:
CHL
)
, China's largest cell-phone provider.
Now before you dismiss this as another risky emerging-market
growth stock... let's see the facts.
China mobile is the world's largest wireless telecommunications
company with more than 650 million subscribers. The company
controls about two-thirds of the total Chinese mobile phone
market
and about 45% of the nation's third-generation (3G) mobile data
market.
In other words, this is a dominant company. With a $200 billion
market cap
and $84 billion in annual revenue, China Mobile is just as big as
the leading U.S. cell-phone service provider, AT&T.
But unlike AT&T, China Mobile has a lot more room for
growth.
In the United States, more than 100% of the population owns a
mobile phone. Even other markets including Brazil, Russia, Turkey
and South Africa have mobile penetration rates of more than
100%.
In China, that number sits at just 67%...
As Chinese households continue to grow their incomes, China
Mobile should maintain its top- line growth as more first-time
mobile customers buy handsets.
Currently, the Chinese government has been targeting economic
growth in the nation's smaller cities and towns, where China Mobile
dominates with unparalleled network coverage and about 70% of the
2G
market share
.
Since mobile penetration is lowest outside the major cities,
China Mobile is the best-placed competitor in China to win this new
business.
And that's just the tip of the iceberg. China Mobile's more
exciting growth prospects lie in high-speed mobile data services.
Data revenue soared 45% in 2011 powered by overall mobile data
traffic growth of 152.1% year-over-year.
To boot, the company pays a solid
dividend yield
that has grown every year since 2006. In 2011 alone, the company
boosted its
dividend
nearly 13%.
Right now, China Mobile pays a quarterly $0.51 distribution for
a
current yield
of 4.0%. But with close to $53 billion in cash and $4.6 billion in
total debt on the books, I expect the company will have no problem
growing its dividend in the years to come...
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying AT&T is a bad company and
that you shouldn't invest in it. Quite the contrary, as the largest
cell-phone provider in the United States, the company should have a
bright future ahead of it.
I'm merely trying to get the point across that there are
dominant companies similar to AT&T that just happen to trade in
foreign markets... and most of these companies have a lot more room
to grow.
In other words, investing internationally doesn't have to be as
risky as it seems. There are dozens of companies trading outside
the United States that are dominating their markets and rewarding
shareholders in the process...
The only difference between these international stocks and U.S.
blue chips is that they trade on a different exchange (but
don't worry, you can buy most of them without even leaving the U.S.
stock exchange).
Risks to Consider:
Of course, that isn't to say that investing abroad isn't
without risk. Investing anywhere is
never guaranteed
to make you money...
Investing internationally also exposes you to things such as
currency risk
and foreign country
tax liability
. So as always, make sure to do your research before you decide
to make any changes to your portfolio.
Action to Take -->
But if you want the chance to secure strong and stable companies
that are growing twice as fast as companies here in the United
States, then I suggest you look to the international markets... I
have a sneaking suspicion that's where you'll find them.
[
Note:
For more information about investing internationally, make sure to
watch StreetAuthority's latest report,
"Forget Treasuries -- Buy These 12% Yields
Instead."
In it, I've included the names and ticker symbols of some of my
favorite international stocks right now. I've even included a full
list of 17 U.S. companies yielding above 12%.
Visit this link to learn about these stocks now
.]
-- Paul Tracy
Paul Tracy does not personally hold positions in any securities
mentioned in this article. StreetAuthority LLC does not hold
positions in any securities mentioned in this article.