China Unicom Posts ‘Terrible’ Profit After Marketing Costs Rise

China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd. posted a steeper-than-estimated 54 percent drop in profit after the country’s only carrier selling Apple Inc.’s iPhone offered more handset discounts and boosted marketing spending.

Second-quarter net income fell to 1.4 billion yuan ($205 million), from 3.05 billion yuan a year earlier, according to figures derived from first-half earnings reported by the company today. China’s second-largest wireless operator was expected to report profit of 1.45 billion yuan, based on the median estimate of six analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.