China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd., the country’s second-biggest mobile-phone company, jumped the most in almost three years in Hong Kong trading after second-quarter profit surged 50 percent, beating analysts’ estimates.

Unicom climbed 12 percent, the biggest gain since October 2008, to close at HK$15.38. Net income rose to 2.48 billion yuan ($388 million), from a restated 1.66 billion yuan a year earlier, the Beijing-based company said yesterday.

China Unicom, the nation’s only carrier that offers Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s iPhone with a service contract, set a goal in March to add 25 million mobile subscribers this year. Chairman Chang Xiaobing is trying to reduce subsidy costs by expanding offerings of handsets costing 1,000 yuan or less, such as ZTE Corp. (000063)’s V880.

“Trends are quite positive for the company,” Paul Wuh, head of Internet research at Samsung Securities Co. in Hong Kong, said in a phone interview today. “Their strategy of moving toward mid-tier customers is also a positive.”

The second-quarter profit exceeded the 969 million yuan average of four analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
Unicom’s subsidies for third-generation handsets in the second quarter were 1.16 billion yuan, less than some analysts had estimated, according to figures derived from first-half data it reported yesterday. The carrier in March said it began adopting a so-called “relative fair value method” of accounting for subsidies, which resulted in the restatement of results retroactive to Jan. 1, 2010.

The company was expected to spend 1.2 billion yuan on handset subsidies in the second quarter, according to Jim Tang, an analyst at Shenyin Wanguo Securities Co. in Shanghai. The figure was projected at 1.5 billion yuan by Wang Jinjin, an analyst at UBS AG in Hong Kong.

The subsidies contributed to a 3 billion yuan loss at the company’s 3G mobile unit in the first half, Chang told reporters at a briefing in Hong Kong. The unit will be profitable in the second half, he said.