Hanarotelecom Inc., one of the nation's major communications companies, said Friday it swung to a profit in the fourth quarter of last year on increased revenue from its main businesses such as video-on-demand service.

Net income reached 7.3 billion won ($7.7 million) in the three months to December, compared with a loss of 45.9 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. The bottom line, however, slid 1.3 percent from the previous quarter.

Sales grew 8.4 percent year-on-year to 488.8 billion won and operating profit surged 162 percent to 24.4 billion won, compared to a 3.2 billion won-loss in the same period of last year.

The third-quarter turnaround is attributable largely to increased sales both from its traditional and new business sectors including video-on-demand TV service, the company said.

The company attributed strong growth to its "Hana TV" service, which enables customers to view TV programs, movies and other diverse entertainment content delivered via broadband Internet connections.

With its promotion efforts on bundling communications services paying off, its traditional businesses including broadband Internet and telephony services are also contributing to profit growth, the company added.

South Korea's information ministry on Wednesday endorsed a deal by SK Telecom Co., the country's top mobile carrier, to purchase a controlling stake in Hanarotelecom. Hanarotelecom has some 3.69 million customers for its broadband Internet service. (Yonhap)