Netcom posts meager gain

Broadband and fixed-line phone operator China Netcom Group yesterday posted an 0.2 percent net profit gain to 10.5 billion yuan for 2007.

Netcom's revenue increased 1 billion yuan to 82 billion yuan last year. The telecom provider plans to boost growth by expanding innovative businesses, Zhang Chunjiang, chairman of Netcom, said yesterday.

The company will earmark 46 percent of its capital expenditure for new business areas over the next 12 months, against 36 percent in 2007.