China Tower reported double-digit profit gains for the first nine months of 2018 as its tower business generated steady growth and its push to diversify into other categories started to pay off.

The company’s net profit for the January to September period rose 16.7 per cent year-on-year to CNY1.96 billion ($283 million), with operating revenue increasing 6.1 per cent to CNY53.6 billion.

Revenue from the tower business was up 3.7 per cent to CNY51.5 billion and its indoor distributed antenna system (DAS) business, which accounts for a small percentage of revenue, grew 79.3 per cent to CNY1.33 billion.

Trans-sector site application and information (TSSAI) business revenue increased to CNY675 million from CNY63 million in the same period of 2017.

The company said in a statement: “By developing a model of business growth with multiple driving forces, the company has been striving to further develop its DAS and TSSAI businesses. There has been a continuous increase in the contribution of DAS and TSSAI towards total operating revenue.”

It increased the number of sites managed 3.9 per cent to 1.92 million and the number of tenants increased 9.2 per cent to 2.86 million, pushing the tenancy ratio to 1.49 from 1.42 at end-September 2017.