China Unicom reported improved profit and revenue for the first nine months of the year, as the company’s 3G business continued to drive growth.

The second-largest operator in China reported net profit of CNY8.37 billion ($1.38 billion) for the year to date, compared with CNY5.45 billion in the comparable 2012 period. Its revenue was CNY220.17 billion, up 18.9 per cent from CNY185.19 billion seen in the equivalent period in 2012.

Service revenue was CNY177.38 billion, up 13.6 per cent year on year. Mobile service revenue increased 20.2 per cent to CNY111.94 billion, with the 3G business contributing 57.8 per cent to the total compared to 45.9 per cent in 2012.

The net addition of 33.45 million mobile subscribers over the first nine months of the year brought the total to 272.76 million. The net addition of 3G subscribers was 35.17 million, meaning the total base of 3G subscribers hit 111.63 million by the end of September.

Average revenue per user for the period was CNY48.6, but was considerably higher for 3G subscribers, at CNY76.5.

The company said that it had reduced its 3G terminal subsidy cost as a percentage of 3G service revenue from 10.9 per cent in 2012 to 9 per cent from in 2013. The subsidy cost stood at CNY5.82 billion. Network, operation and support expenses also decreased as a percentage of service revenue, from 15.4 per cent to 13.9 per cent.

China Unicom said in a statement it had “continuously enhanced its network capacity and further expanded its network scale” during the period.

For its fixed line unit, the company claimed “stable growth” in service revenue, up 3.8 per cent to CNY64.82 billion. Its broadband operations generated 52.7 per cent of this, from 49.7 per cent in the first three quarters of 2012.