China Telecom, a leading mobile operator in China, registered profit growth despite a decrease in its operating revenues in the first quarter, according to its financial report filed with the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited Monday.

Profits attributable to equity holders totaled 5.956 billion yuan (about 885.1 million US dollars) in Q1, up 4.5 percent year on year, said the report.

Operating revenue was 96.135 billion yuan, representing a 0.5-percent decrease over the same period last year, the statement said.

The company's mobile subscribers reached 315 million last year, a net increase of 12.05 million. The number of 4G subscribers hit 256 million, a net increase of 13.67 million.

Meanwhile, the company's wireline broadband subscribers grew 2.08 million to 148 million.

For the first quarter of 2019, the company "firmly grasped the development opportunities arising from the digital economy and carried out supply-side structural reforms," said the report.

China's telecom sector saw robust mobile data consumption in the country despite slower revenue expansion. The sector's revenue rose 1 percent year on year to 332.3 billion yuan, the latest data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology showed.