China Mobile raises 2012 handset subsidies to 26 bln yuan

HONG KONG Aug 16 (Reuters) - China Mobile, the world's biggest wireless carrier by subscribers, said on Thursday it has raised handset subsidies for 2012 to 26 billion yuan ($4.1 billion) from an initial 21 billion yuan.

In the first half of this year, China Mobile spent 12 billion yuan on handset subsidies, chief financial officer Xue Taohai said at an earnings news conference.

He was speaking after the company posted a 0.9 percent slide in first-half EBITDA as its core telecoms business felt the squeeze from increasing competition.

China Mobile's shares closed down 5 percent on Thursday at HK$86.85 after the earnings results, lagging a 0.45 percent drop in the benchmark Hang Seng Index. ($1 = 6.3625 Chinese yuan) (Reporting By Lee Chyen Yee; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree and Jacqueline Wong)