Huawei announced revenue for the first quarter of 2019 jumped 39 per cent year-on-year to CNY180 billion ($26.8 billion), but didn’t provide profit figures nor did it give a breakdown of revenue by its three major divisions.

A month ago, Ren Zhengfei, Huawei founder and CEO, said the company’s sales in January and February increased 35.8 per cent from the same period in 2018, emphasising at the time US scrutiny and bans on its equipment in some countries was not having an impact on its top-line.

At the end of March, the vendor reported its net profit in 2018 jumped 25.1 per cent to CNY59.3 billion, with overall revenue increasing 19.5 per cent to CNY721 billion. But its once dominant Carrier Business Group recorded its first decline in revenue last year.

Rotating chairman Ken Hu said last week he anticipates the faster-than-expected rollout of 5G networks will fuel double-digit growth for its carrier division in 2019.

In a statement today, Huawei said its net profit margin in Q1 was about 8 per cent, slightly higher than the same period of 2018.

The company added: “Huawei maintained its focus on ICT infrastructure and smart devices, and continued to boost the efficiency and quality of its operations, which has helped contribute to its solid performance in Q1 2019.”

Huawei added smartphone shipments reached 59 million in the quarter, without giving a per cent gain  (according to market research firm Strategy Analytics, Huawei shipped 39.3 million smartphones in the first quarter of 2018.). It said total shipments exceeded 200 million units in 2018.