Profits of China's major companies slide

Beijing: Profits of major companies in China hit 390.9 billion yuan (USD 61.8 billion) in May, down 5.3 percent from the same period last year, the nation's top statistical authority said Friday.

The profits were also lower than the 407.6 billion yuan level in April.

During the first five months, the profits of companies with annual revenues exceeding 20 million yuan each stood at 1.84 trillion yuan, down 2.4 percent year on year, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed.

State-owned and state-controlled enterprises saw their profits fall 10.8 percent from one year earlier to 560.1 billion yuan in the first five months, while private companies' profits grew 18.1 percent to 550 billion yuan.

IANS