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ZTE posts a first quarterly loss, margins bleed

US-ZTE-EARNINGS:ZTE posts a first quarterly loss, margins bleed

HONG KONG (Reuters) - ZTE Corp, the world's fourth-biggest maker of mobile phones and fifth-ranked telecommunications equipment manufacturer, reported a net loss of 1.95 billion yuan ($310 million) for July-September, its first quarterly loss on record, as margins thinned, overseas projects were delayed and it made accounting changes at home in China.

Shenzhen-based ZTE, led by Shi Lirong, had previously warned its quarterly loss could be as much as 2 billion yuan - eight times the size of its profit in the first half of this year - triggering a 16 percent drop in its stock price on October 15, a slew of broker downgrades and warnings from Fitch ratings agency.

At that time, ZTE blamed its forecast loss on delays in some international telecom projects and a large number of low-margin contracts in Europe and Asia, but said it expected to be profitable for the full year.

(Reporting by Lee Chyen Yee; Editing by Ian Geoghegan)

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