Hutchison Whampoa Ltd., billionaire Li Ka-shing's largest company, said that its full-year profit swelled 12% as losses from its mobile-phone operations in Europe decreased.

Hutchison slashed marketing expenditures and network costs at its wireless businesses in markets including the U. K. and Italy to withstand the worst European recession since World War II, which impeded Li's plan to turn around the unsuccessful operations. The Hong Kong parent might report higher profit from its ports and property unit this year as the worldwide economy recoups.

Gary Pinge, who rates Hutchison shares "buy" at Macquarie Group Ltd. in Hong Kong, said, "The cost of acquiring customers has come down and they are operating their businesses more efficiently". Pinge said that the mobile-phone operations will post "ongoing improvement", while the ports and energy units are likely to bounce back.

Hutchison said that sales fell to HK$208.8 billion from HK$235.5 billion a year before.

According to a Feb. 24 report by Morgan Stanley analyst Praveen Choudhary, investment in the wireless unit has reached almost HK$240 billion.

Wireless customers in the U. K. and Ireland increased 15% last year, slowing from a 23% gain in 2008, Hutchison said. In Italy, subscribers grew 3% in 2009, compared with a 5% swell a year before. 3 Group also provides services in Sweden, Denmark, and Austria, and possesses half of a mobile-phone business enterprise in Australia with Vodafone Group Plc.