Hit by the economic slowdown, listed Chinese companies' profits grew less than half in the first half of 2008 than that of the last year during the same period.
As of yesterday, 1,178 listed companies, 72.8 per cent of the total, had released interim statements which showed they earned $47.2 billion in all, up 30.9 per cent whereas in the first half of 2007 the growth rate was 70 per cent, Shanghai Securities News reported.
Revenue of these companies grew 28.4 per cent to 3.13 trillion yuan but operating cash flow contracted sharply, falling 60 per cent to 412.92 billion yuan, the report said.
The newspaper said profits were affected by an economic slowdown and a weak domestic stock market while last year's results were boosted by a bullish equity market.
The stock market has also declined by more than half since it peaked last fall.
Amid slowing world economic activity and domestic policies intended to cool the nation's economy, China's gross domestic product growth was 10.4 per cent in the first half, 1.8 percentage points lower than the same period last year.
Although more than 20 per cent of listed companies have yet to release half-year results, analysts said overall corporate profit growth would likely come in between 20 per cent and 30 per cent, the report said.
