HONGKONG Telecom's lucrative monopoly on international calls helped it exceed hopes for a bumper 1992 as profits attributable to shareholders rose 13.3 per cent.
Profits were $6.43 billion, although one-off charges meant that the figure was a whisker below some analysts' forecasts.
Chief executive Michael Gale said the figures showed ''strong growth and satisfactory profits largely because of the performance of our core businesses''.
Turnover rose 18 per cent to $21.65 billion, with international calls the engine behind the growth.
Revenue from international calls increased 23 per cent to $13.59 billion and made up 63 per cent of the company's revenue, against 60 per cent in 1991.
According to Mr Gale, the tightening economic links with the mainland meant that calls to China made up 44 per cent of international calls measured by minutes, and their value grew faster than that of other international calls at 36.5 per cent last year.