Shanghai-listed firms' H1 profits drop, Shenzhen's SMEs rise

[SHANGHAI] China's main two bourses reported diverging fortunes in the first half of the year, with larger, often state-owned, listed firms in Shanghai seeing profits tumble while smaller start-ups on the Shenzhen Exchange saw profits rise.

A total of 1,124 Shanghai-listed firms saw net profits shrink 5.7 per cent to around 1.14 trillion yuan (S$233 billion), official news agency Xinhua reported, citing a stock exchange statement. Revenues edged up 1.3 per cent to 11 trillion yuan.

Shenzhen's mostly small-and-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), however, saw profits jump 5.8 per cent to a combined 244 billion yuan on revenues of around 3.5 trillion yuan, up 8.6 per cent, the bourse said in a separate statement.

The relative strength of Shenzhen reflects how traditional state-owned behemoths are struggling amid a wider slowdown, while smaller, nimbler private companies are increasingly taking in the reins of growth.

The Shenzhen bourse said the robust performance of its listed firms showed how "industrial upgrading and technological innovation were becoming the main drivers of earnings growth", amid a complex economic environment at home and abroad.

REUTERS