China Unicom profits rise 74 pct in Q1

China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd, the country's second-biggest mobile carrier by subscribers, posted a 74 percent rise in first quarter net profits, beating estimates, as an increase in data usage offset a slowdown in subscriber growth.

China Unicom said on Thursday net profit from January to March was 3.3 billion yuan, higher than the 1.9 billion yuan in the same period one year ago.

Operating revenues for the first quarter was 76.47 billion yuan versus 70.6 billion yuan last year, an increase of 8.3 percent.