|
BIZCHINA> Top Biz News
![]() |
|
SOE profits decline in January-April
By Wang Bo (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-05-21 08:18
Profits of China's State-owned enterprises (SOE) continued to fall in the first four months of the year, albeit at a slower pace, as the nation's giant stimulus package started to take effect. From January to April, the combined profits of China's SOEs totaled 323.6 billion yuan ($47.41 billion), down 32.3 percent from a year earlier, compared with the 36.8 percent decline in the first three months, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said yesterday in a statement on its website. Enterprises controlled by the central government posted profits of 260 billion yuan through April, down 24.7 percent year-on-year. The combined profits of SOEs controlled by provincial and other local governments plunged 52 percent in the same period to 63.6 billion yuan, the MOF said.
"Though sales and profits of State-owned firms continued to fall, the pace of profit decline has moderated markedly," MOF said. SOEs saw combined profits declining since last August as the global financial crisis worsened. After falling 43.7 percent in the first two months of 2009, SOE profits have recently somewhat stabilized, which economists said was largely due to the traction they gained from the 4-trillion-yuan stimulus package. "The huge fiscal stimulus has spurred demand for products of State-owned firms, especially those in the upstream of the industrial chain," Shen Minggao, chief economist with the Chinese Caijing magazine said. The ministry said corporate profits in sectors, such as construction and real estate, have maintained their uptrend, in line with the recent strong rebound in the property market in some major cities. Companies in petrochemical, equipment and automobile industries saw their profits falling at a slower pace, while those in steelmaking and shipping sectors were still running in a loss, the ministry said. China's economy has showed signs of recovery with the help of the galloping bank loan growth. But analysts said given the gloomy overseas demand and lackluster domestic private investment, the prospects for SOEs in the near future is not that optimistic. As many SOEs are grappling with the problem of industrial overcapacity, their profitability could be affected when external demand showed no signs of a recovery, Shen said. On the other hand, private investment is yet to pick up, he said. Zuo Xiaolei, chief economist, Galaxy Securities, said it would be better not to make any hasty judgment based on the minor changes in monthly figures. "The deceleration in SOE profits has largely been due to the government stimulus. This is hardly a signal of an economic turnaround," said Zuo. (For more biz stories, please visit Industries)
|
尼玛县| 临朐县| 论坛| 庆阳市| 武宣县| 左权县| 马龙县| 兴化市| 石屏县| 无锡市| 正宁县| 滨海县| 凤翔县| 梨树县| 桂平市| 南宫市| 将乐县| 上林县| 久治县| 塔河县| 永顺县| 阜康市| 晋城| 平阴县| 九寨沟县| 唐海县| 来安县| 临澧县| 田东县| 泾阳县| 洛南县| 襄垣县| 延寿县| 吉林省| 新郑市| 利川市| 信阳市| 上林县| 深圳市| 大新县| 东源县|