China's industrial profits up by 14.7 per cent

BEIJING, Oct 28 (Xinhua): China's major industrial firms recorded slowed profit growth in the first nine months of this year, but their efficiency improved with higher profitability and lower costs, data showed Saturday.

Industrial profits rose 14.7 per cent year on year to 4.97 trillion yuan (about 715.3 billion US dollars) in the first nine months, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said. That was down from a rise of 16.2 per cent in January-August.

Profits in 34 of the 41 sectors surveyed rose compared with one year earlier, unchanged from that in the January-August period. In September, combined profits at industrial firms with annual revenue of more than 20 million yuan rose 4.1 per cent year on year to 545.5 billion yuan. The pace of growth slowed from 9.2 per cent in August.

The slowdown in September was mainly driven by a pullback in the growth of industrial production and product prices as well as a high comparative base from last year, NBS official He Ping said.

According to the NBS, the steel, construction materials, oil and chemicals sectors, which contributed 72.4 per cent to the overall industrial profit increase, posted strong profit growth in the first nine months.

Although industrial profits rose at a slower pace, He said industrial companies' operating costs and leverage ratios both fell, while their profitability continued to improve.