Net profit of Nanjing Panda Electronics up 20.3% in 2007

Nanjing Panda Electronics Co<600775><553>, the Finnish phone maker Ericsson AB's Chinese partner, said its net income jumped 20.3% to RMB 112 million from RMB 93.1 in 2006, according to its annual report filed to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Its sales amounted to RMB 994 million by the end of 2007, with an increase of 12.8% over the previous year. Earnings per share were RMB 0.17, compared with RMB 0.14 a year earlier.

The company proposed a final dividend of RMB 0.08 per share.

The booming sales and net profit could be attributable to the growing mobile phone subscribers. China Mobile<941> and China Unicom<762>, the country's two mobile service operators, had a record 86.2 million new subscribers in 2007 after cutting the roaming charges.

Nanjing Panda Electronics is located in east China's Jiangsu Province. It holds 27% stakes in a factory in Nanjing, which specializes in producing mobile-phone network equipments. It also has 20% stakes in the joint venture in Beijing with Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications Ltd for making handsets.