HK's MTR profit up 22% in 2011

Hong Kong's Mass Transit Railway (MTR) Corporation recorded a 22 percent jump in profit last year, the company announced Thursday.

According to the released figure, the profit mounted to 14.716 billion HK dollars (about 1.9 billion U.S. dollars) in 2011.

The number of passengers taking the MTR increased 5.1 percent to 1.69 billion last year. However, the company forecast the rate of passenger growth may slow down as the economy remains challenging.

Property development profit of the company reached 4.9 billion HK dollars, mainly from shopping centers along the railway. (1 U.S. dollars = 7.758 HK dollars)