China Unicom net dampened by slimmer margins

China Unicom Ltd reported a lower than expected 4% rise in 2004 net profits due to heavy marketing expenses and handset subsidies designed to attract customers. The world's third- largest mobile-phone company by users posted RMB79.3bn (US$9.6bn) in operating revenue, a 17.3% increase over last year, and a net profit of RMB4.39bn versus RMB4.2bn from a year ago.