Mainland Chinese companies listed onshore recorded a total net profit of 3 trillion yuan (US$420 billion) in the first half of the year, an increase of 2.5 per cent from a year earlier, the China Association for Public Companies said in a report on Tuesday.
Nearly 60 per cent of the 5,432 listed companies registered revenue growth, while more than three quarters made a profit, reflecting a more optimised business structure, a sharper focus on technology and innovation and increasing shareholder returns for the first six months of the year, according to the association.
The overall revenue of non-financial companies came in at 30.42 trillion yuan, about the same level as last year. Their net profit reached 1.59 trillion yuan, an increase of 0.9 per cent from a year ago.
“The overall figures sum up the relatively stable performance of the A-share market in the first half,” said Kenny Ng Lai-yin, a strategist at Everbright Securities International. “Of course, the pace of profit growth was not particularly pronounced, reflecting the fluctuations seen in the economy in recent years.”
This exerted pressure on corporate profit growth, especially in the face of tariffs, a slowdown in the macroeconomy and a relatively sluggish real estate sector, he added.
Companies listed on the ChiNext board of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, the Star Market of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, and the Beijing Stock Exchange, which typically have smaller market capitalisations and are oriented towards technology and services, outperformed the broader market, with revenues growing 9 per cent, 4.9 per cent and 6.1 per cent, respectively.
