SOEs' profits rise 5.3% to US$111.1b

Profits at China's state-owned enterprises grew 5.3 percent from a year earlier to 689.1 billion yuan (US$111.1 billion) in the first four months of this year, reflecting uncertainties in the recovery of the country, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.

The expansion slowed from the 7.7 percent rise in the first quarter, the ministry said.

The profits at the centrally-administered SOEs rose 6.3 percent to 536.3 billion yuan in the January-April period, while SOEs managed by local governments suffered a drop of 14.7 percent in their earnings to 152.8 billion yuan.

"China's state-owned enterprises had a stable performance on the whole amid a weakening (economic) recovery," said Xue Jun, an analyst at CITIC Securities Co. "Centrally-administered companies are more resilient because they have more resources and they are dominant."

The SOEs posted a 10.2 percent rise in revenues to 14 trillion yuan in the four-month period, the ministry said.

China's economic recovery has been weaker than expected. The gross domestic product grew 7.7 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, slower than 7.9 percent in the final three months of last year.

The World Bank recently cut its outlook of China's growth this year to 8.3 percent from 8.4 percent previously, citing risks in the property sector, financial system and local government liabilities.

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