BEIJING: The combined profits of China’s non-financial state-owned enterprises in the first quarter fell 13.8 percent year on year to 432 billion yuan (US$66.5 billion), according to figures published yesterday by the Ministry of Finance.
Their joint revenue for the period dropped 3 percent to 9.95 trillion yuan, it said.
Despite the negative data, the rate of decline of both measures slowed from 14.2 and 5.8 percent, respectively, in the first two months of 2016, the ministry said.
Within the sector, pharmaceutical and petrochemical companies saw their profits rise; building materials, electronics and tobacco firms saw theirs drop; and coal, steel and nonferrous metals enterprises extended their losses, it said.
Meanwhile, the profits of central government-run companies in the first three months fell 13.2 percent year on year, while those of SOEs administered at the local level dropped 15.8 percent, the ministry said.
The reports of sliding profits come as no surprise as the government seeks to eradicate excess capacity and streamline operations within the country’s state-owned companies.
