MNI DATA IMPACT: China March Ind Profits Rise To 8-Month High

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

companies last month gained the most since July 2018. Here are the major

takeaways from data by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released on

Saturday. 

     - Profits made by the companies tracked by the NBS swung to a gain of 13.9%

y/y from 14.0% decline in the first two months, driven by accelerated production

and sales and a rebound in prices. 

     - Price changes added 4.5 percentage points of growth from Jan-Feb, the NBS

said. Ex-factory prices increased 0.4% y/y, after declining for eight months.

Purchase prices rose by 0.2% y/y, adding 0.1 pp from Jan-Feb, according to the

NBS.

     - Profits by automobile manufacturing companies rose 1.0% y/y, rebounding

sharply from the 42.0% decline in Jan-Feb. Losses by petroleum processing, steel

and chemical companies recorded 13.9%, 15.2% and 3.2%, narrowing losses in

Jan-Feb by  56.5, 43.8 and 24.0 pps, respectively. The recovery of profit losses

in these four sectors has propped up the profit growth by 12.8 pps from Jan-Feb,

the NBS said. 

     - VAT cuts, and the low base same period last year due to the early Chinese

New Year holiday this year, as well as increased investment income also helped

to lift profit growth, the NBS said.

--MNI Beijing Bureau; +86 (10) 8532-5998; email: wanxia.lin@marketnews.com

--MNI Beijing Bureau; +86 10 8532 5998; email: william.bi@mni-news.com

[TOPICS: MAQDS$,MAUDR$,MAUDS$,M$A$$$,M$Q$$$,M$U$$$]