Chinese State Companies' Profit Slides 9.5% In January-November Period, Year On Year

Profit at China's state firms dipped 9.5 percent in the first 11 months of 2015 from the comparable period a year earlier, after a 9.8 percent drop in the first 10 months, the country’s Finance Ministry said Friday. Combined profit of state-owned enterprises totaled 2.04 trillion yuan ($315.18 billion) in the January-November period, the ministry said in a statement on its website.

"The downward pressure on economic operations remains relatively big, although there are signs of warming up in some indicators," the ministry said. Excluding financial firms, the combined revenue of state-owned firms fell 6.1 percent in the first 11 months from a year earlier to 40.66 trillion yuan, the ministry said.

Companies in the transportation, power and chemical sectors reported a rise in profit in the January-November period, while firms in oil, petrochemicals and building materials saw a drop in earnings. Firms in steel, coal and nonferrous-metal sectors continued to suffer losses.

The government has been struggling to reach its economic growth target of around 7 percent this year, which would be the weakest pace in a quarter of a century.