Corporate performance reveals positive changes in Chinese economy

BEIJING - With a raft of macroeconomic figures pointing to better economic structure and stronger momentum, the performance of Chinese companies offers a glimpse into the health of the economy from a micro perspective.

By Monday, five listed Chinese companies, mostly high-tech firms, had filed their annual reports to the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges -- all reported higher profits in 2016 compared with the previous year.

Among more than 3,000 listed companies, the strength of the five early birds can hardly be described as a trend, but it chimes with efforts to seek new growth impetus to sustain growth.

The high-tech sector's industrial output rose 10.8 percent last year, faster than the 6-percent growth in the overall industrial output of major companies, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said last week.

Zhao Yuncheng, head of the industrial statistics department at NBS, said the continued rapid growth of the high-tech and emerging sectors last year indicated that the transition from traditional impetus to new engines of growth was going well.

Looking more widely, profit forecasts from 1,731 companies showed a similar trend.

The companies' forecasts, which were based on unaudited accounting figures before their full audited annual reports, were issued to investors through the stock exchanges, according to Wind Info, a Shanghai-based financial information provider.

Some new sectors stood out in terms of profit growth.

With booming development of the new-energy vehicle sector, two listed companies producing lithium batteries both forecast profit growth of more than 400 percent.

Only two of the 60 cultural and media companies forecast losses. Perfect World Co, a Beijing-based entertainment company, said its 2016 profits may rise by between 740 and 770 percent.

Meanwhile, listed companies from sectors struggling with overcapacity also witnessed better profitability, as the country made cutting excess capacity one of its major tasks in its supply-side structural reform.

Nine steel companies among 22 firms that had issued forecasts shook off losses and began profiting in 2016, while only three of the 22 forecast losses.

The country's steel and coal sectors managed to complete their annual targets of reducing outdated overcapacity in order to improve corporate profitability, optimize structure and balance market supply and demand, NBS said.

Zhao Yuncheng said that the country had also made headway in destocking, de-leveraging and reducing corporate costs last year.

Among all the 1,731 companies, 75.7 percent forecast profit rises, higher than the 65.3 percent of listed companies that reported year-on-year profit rises in the first three quarters of 2016.

Another 20.9 percent of companies said their 2016 profits may drop from a year ago, while the remainder said the changes would be uncertain, Wind Info said.

The overall stronger profitability coincides with the stabilization of China's economy, as China's GDP grew 6.8 percent in the last quarter of 2016, higher than the 6.7 percent for the previous three quarters.

China's producer price index (PPI), which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, jumped 5.5 percent year-on-year in December to reach a five-year high, showing the country's economy enjoyed steadier footing.

NBS data also showed that industrial profits expanded 9.4 percent year-on-year in the first 11 months, faster than the 8.6-percent rise for the first 10 months. Full-year figures are scheduled to be released Thursday.