By Yimou Lee and Paul Carsten
HONG KONG/BEIJING (Reuters) - China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd [HWT.UL] on Friday posted its strongest revenue growth since 2008 as China's adoption of fourth-generation (4G) mobile technology and strong smartphone sales worldwide boosted sales for one of the world's largest telecom equipment makers.
The Shenzhen-based company said global revenue rose 37 percent to 395 billion yuan ($61.10 billion) in 2015, slightly above its forecast of 390 billion yuan.
Net profit rose 32 percent to 36.9 billion yuan, from 27.9 billion yuan a year earlier, while operating margins dipped to 11.6 percent from 11.9 percent.
Total liabilities stood at 253 billion yuan, versus total assets of 372 billion yuan, the company said.
Huawei's consumer devices business recorded the biggest jump in revenue last year, rising 72.9 percent as the company outperformed domestic peers Lenovo Group and Xiaomi Inc (XTC.UL).
Huawei became the first Chinese handset vendor to ship more than 100 million smartphones in a year in 2015 when a 44 percent jump in its shipments defied a market slowdown.
The company's growth is "a direct result of strategic focus and heavy investment in our core businesses," Guo Ping, one of Huawei's CEOs who hold the post on a rotating basis, wrote in a statement.
Revenue in Huawei's carrier business, which competes with Sweden's Ericsson (ST:ERICAs) for the top spot globally for telecommunication equipment, increased 21.4 percent in 2015 on strong demand for 4G telecommunication equipment.
In Huawei's enterprise division, which builds private networks for companies and organizations, revenue rose 43.8 percent.
The company said it spent 15 percent of its revenue last year on research and development, above its guidance of 10 percent.
Huawei had targeted overall revenue of $70 billion by 2018, which translates to roughly 10 percent annual growth.
