Netcom profit climbs on broadband growth

China Netcom Group Corp (Hong Kong) Ltd, the nation's second-largest operator of fixed-line phone services, said first-half profit rose on a one-time gain and an increase in high-speed Internet subscribers.

Net income climbed to 5.9 billion yuan from 5.8 billion yuan a year earlier, the Beijing-based company said yesterday in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange. The company said it gained 624 million yuan from selling assets to its parent. Sales rose 0.4 percent to 40.7 billion yuan.

Chairman Zhang Chunjiang expanded high-speed Web services and Internet television to attract users after growth in fixed-line subscribers slowed. Wireless operators signed up 10 times as many users as Netcom and bigger rival China Telecom Corp in the first six months of the year after cutting prices.