China Telecom says Q1 net profit down 27 pct

HONG KONG, April 20 (Reuters) - China Telecom Corp (0728.HK) said on Monday its first quarter net profit fell 27 percent due to intense market competition and the impact of the global financial crisis.

China Telecom, the country's dominant fixed-line phone company, said it posted net profit of 4.7 billion yuan ($687.8 million) for the three months ended March against 6.47 billion yuan a year earlier.

But its operating revenues rose 15 percent to 50.9 billion yuan for the reported period. ($1=6.833 Yuan) (Reporting by Alison Leung; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)