MNI: China Industrial Profits Continue Rapid Growth Rate

     BEIJING (MNI) - Combined profits made by China's industrial companies in

January-May rose 16.5% from a year ago to CNY2.73 trillion, the National Bureau

of Statistics said Wednesday. That compared with an increase of 15.0% y/y in

Jan-Apr, and was the highest increase so far in 2018.

     Industrial profits for May rose by 21.1% y/y to CNY607.06 billion,

following the rapid growth rate of 21.9% y/y in April.

     The increase was led by falling costs as well as the rising Producer Price

Index (PPI), the bureau said. Costs fell by 0.38% y/y and PPI rose 4.1% y/y in

May. 

     The profit increase was also supported by China's ongoing deleveraging --

the asset-liability ratio for Chinese industries was recorded at 56.6% at

end-May, 0.6 percentage points lower than the same period last year.

     Among 41 industries, 31, including most mining and manufacturing saw

profits rise y/y, while 10 saw profits decline.

     Here are the subcategory breakdowns of the Jan-May industrial profits:

     --State-owned enterprises' profits rose 28.7% y/y to CNY810.35 billion,

compared with 26.2% in Jan-Apr.

     --Publicly-listed companies' profits rose 20.6% y/y to CNY1.92 trillion,

compared with 19.1% in Jan-Apr.

     --Mining companies' profits rose 41.6% to CNY233.36 billion, compared with

39.0% in Jan-Apr.

     --Manufacturing industry profits rose 13.8% y/y to CNY2.32 trillion,

compared with 12.0% in Jan-Apr.

     --Power companies' profits rose 26.1% y/y to CNY181.46 billion, compared

with 28.7% in Jan-Apr.

--MNI Beijing Bureau; tel: +86 (10) 8532-5998; email: flora.guo@marketnews.com

--MNI Singapore Bureau; +65 8233 2326; email: Asia-Editor@marketnews.com

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