China-based equipment and device vendor ZTE predicted its net profit for the first nine months of 2017 will hit CNY3.9 billion ($586 million), driven by growth in its carrier network and consumer units.

If accurate, the profit figure would be 36.6 per cent higher than the opening nine months of 2016. In a preliminary financial statement, ZTE also said said it expected revenue for the 2017 period to have grown 7 per cent year-on-year to CNY76.58 billion. Operating profit is tipped to have jumped 455 per cent to CNY5.29 billion.

Profit in the recent period was boosted by the sale of a 10.1 per cent stake in smartphone subsidiary Nubia for CNY426 million. Investment income from ZTE’s remaining 49.9 per cent interest in Nubia, based on fair-value remeasurement, amounted to about CNY1.74 billion (before tax), the company said.

Its Q3 report will be released on 26 October.

For the full year, ZTE estimates a net profit between CNY4.3 billion and CNY4.8 billion, which would be a huge turnaround from 2016 when it lost CNY2.36 billion due to nearly a $1 billion settlement with the US government after admitting violating US trade sanctions,

The company’s net profit in H1 2017 jumped 29.8 per cent year-on-year to CNY2.29 billion, with consolidated revenue growing 13.1 per cent to CNY54 billion.