BEIJING, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Profits of Chinas major industrial enterprises contracted 37.3 percent year-on-year during the first two months of 2009, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Friday.
The sharp fall was in line with analysts expectations. They said that declines in producer prices in the first two months would have had a direct impact on industrial profits.
The producer price index fell 3.3 percent in January and 4.5 percent in February, the softest producer-price figures since the second half of 2002.
As with some other economic statistics released recently, the figures for the first two months were given only as a unit, with no breakout for either month.
The NBS said nonferrous metal producers had the toughest time in the first two months, with an aggregate net loss of 1.93 billion yuan (283.8 million U.S. dollars). Steel makers alone lost770 million yuan.
Profits of large industrial enterprises, defined as those with annual income exceeding 5 million yuan, fell 37.3 percent to 219.1 billion yuan, the NBS said.
Among the major industrial enterprises, state-owned enterprises recorded the biggest drop in profits, down 59.2 percent to 56.7 billion yuan.
Oil and natural gas exploration profits plunged 86.1 percent, while profits of power generating firms sank 77 percent.
The electronic and telecommunications equipment manufacturing sector reported the biggest drop among all 39 sectors, at 96.3 percent.