HONG KONG: The mainland's second-largest mobile carrier China Unicom recorded a 24.3 percent drop in net profit to 3.73 billion yuan for 2006 because of a non-cash loss.

The result had been forecast by experts, with the slide in profit attributed to unrealized losses in convertible bonds the company issued last year.

Excluding that loss, China Unicom would have posted a net profit of 6.13 billion yuan for 2006, a 24.3 percent increase over the previous year. China Unicom's revenue surged 8.3 percent to 94.3 billion yuan.