ZTE net profit more than doubles

ZTE Corp., China’s second-largest telecom equipment maker, posted Friday a net profit of 143 million yuan (US$19.12 million) for the third quarter of this year, up 116 percent from a year earlier, as it continues a drive into more developed overseas markets.

ZTE said last week that it had agreed a supply deal with state-controlled Telekom Malaysia Bhd, the country’s dominant fixed-line provider, and in March made its first infrastructure equipment deal in Britain.

Ningbo Bird forecasts net loss for 2007

NINGBO Bird Co., China’s second-biggest mobile phone maker, said Saturday it may post a net loss this year because of increasing competition and falling margins.

The Shanghai-listed company didn’t provide a loss figure in its statement. The Zhejiang Province-based company had a profit of 30.6 million yuan (US$4 million) in 2006, it said. The third-quarter loss widened to 271.2 million yuan, or 0.35 yuan a share, from 13.6 million yuan, or 0.02 yuan a share, a year earlier, the company said. Sales fell 24 percent to 1.3 billion yuan from 1.7 billion yuan.

No knowledge of StanChart interest: BOC

A BANK of China (BOC) official said he had not heard of any potential investment in London-based Standard Chartered Plc. (StanChart), whose shares were up by 5 percent Friday amid market talk of interest by the Chinese lender.

“I have not heard anything about that,” Wang Zhaowen, Bank of China’s general manager and spokesman, said.

City of London eyes forex investment agency

THE City of London is lobbying China’s US$200 billion foreign exchange investment agency to set up a branch in the leading international financial center, the China Daily said Friday.

Alderman John Stuttard, lord mayor of the City of London, met chairman of China Investment Corp. (CIC) Lou Jiwei on Thursday to discuss the proposal, the newspaper reported. “I hope CIC will choose to draw on the U.K.’s expertise in asset management and use the investment channel for its sovereign wealth fund,” Stuttard said. CIC, launched in September with a task to maximize returns on part of the nation’s US$1.43 trillion in foreign exchange reserves, has yet to open an overseas office.