China Business

May 3, 2006

Miners benefit from high resource prices

BEIJING - Resources mining firms were the most profitable of China's domestically listed firms last year, according to the latest edition of the Shanghai Securities News.

Total net profits by 19 mining firms, which have just made public their 2005 annual business report, stood at 48 billion yuan (US$6 billion), accounting for more than one quarter of the net profits by

all firms listed on the domestic stock markets, the newspaper said.

Citing its own calculation, the paper said the 1,191 firms listed on mainland stock markets posted an average profit growth of 5.04% in 2005 year-on-year, compared with nearly 30% in 2004. The most profitable firms after mining firms were power companies.

Net profits by six sectors, namely electronics, construction, papermaking and printing, banking, mining and cable TV operation and media, grew by more than 20%, while timber and furniture firms and agriculture-related firms recorded over 30% decreases in net profits.

The listed firms, which exclude a group of firms delisted since 2005, recorded 3.74 trillion yuan in combined revenues from their major businesses, up 22.59% over 2004. The report said soaring raw material prices were responsible for the slowdown of profit growth of those firms.

(Asia Pulse/XIC)

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