MNI: China Industrial Profits See Significant Drop In August

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

August rose 9.2% year-on-year to CNY519.69 billion, a significant drop from the

16.2% y/y growth last month, the National Bureau of Statistics reported on

Thursday. 

     Industrial profits for the Jan-Aug period, dragged by the plunge in August,

rose by 16.2% y/y to CNY4.42 trillion, slowing down from the 17.1% y/y growth

recorded in July.

     The slowdown in growth is believed to reflect the effects of the ongoing

supply-side reform, and the fall in August is mainly the result of the lower

revenues and product prices, as well as the high base effect from last August,

the bureau said. 

     Out of 41 industries, 34 industries, including most mining and

manufacturing, saw profits rise y/y, while 7 saw profits decline.

     The subcategory breakdowns of the Jan-Jul industrial profits are as

follows:

     --State-owned enterprises' profits rose 26.7% y/y to CNY1.35 trillion,

compared with a 30.5% increase in Jan-Jul.

     --Publicly listed companies' profits rose 20.1% y/y to CNY3.13 trillion,

compared with a 21.3% rise in Jan-Jul.

     --Mining companies' profits rose 53.2% to CNY388.05 billion, compared with

a 53.4% rise in Jan-Jul.

     --Manufacturing industry profits rose 13.5% y/y to CNY3.74 trillion,

compared with 14.3% in Jan-Jul.

     --Power companies' profits rose 13.5% y/y to CNY298.59 billion, compared

with a rise of 17.8% in Jan-Jul.

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

--MNI Beijing Bureau; +86-10-8532-5998; email: beijing@marketnews.com

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