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SCMP Reporter

Asia's financial crisis, poor management and slower domestic growth have taken their toll on the mainland's listed companies.

 The results of 810 of 820 companies listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges in the first half of this year showed a drop in main indicators of profitability.

 The average fully diluted earnings per share, for example, was 10.5 fen (about 9.8 HK cents), down from 13 fen a year earlier.

 And the average return on net assets was 4.237 per cent, down from 5.229, while the net asset value per share was 2.478 yuan, nearly unchanged from 2.485 yuan.

 Moreover, of the 784 companies with comparable results, 361 reported a rise in net profit, while 423 had a decline.

 In the period, Zhuhai Gree Electrical Appliances and Jiangsu Chunlun Refrigerator retained their first and second positions in terms of earning per share.

 But television king Sichuan Changhong was booted out of the league of top-10 performers.

 Analysts said the Asian financial crisis was partly responsible for the half-term poor showing, especially by textile companies that sold to Southeast Asian markets.

 'The Asian crisis may not be the main reason for the poor results,' Shenyin & Wanguo analyst Zhang Tao said.

 'But it did affect directly or indirectly the results of poorly performing companies,' he said.

 Because of currency devaluations, Asian countries that had bought from the mainland started to export more to it instead, hurting domestic companies.

 Slowing economic growth and the floods that hit provinces near the Yangtze river also contributed to poor results.

 But analysts said inefficient management was also a factor.

 'About 10 per cent of the companies are directly hit by the Asian crisis, while others are hit indirectly,' China Guotai analyst Chen Jian said.

 'Still others are affected by their [poor] management than anything else,' he said.

 Analysts pointed out that many listed companies were unable to adjust to a tougher market.

 'The external environment has certainly been difficult because of the Asian crisis, but many listed companies are slow to respond to changes and are unable to deal with external risks,' a stock analyst said.

 They said these companies failed to use proceeds from flotations to improve their products and technological level.

 Analysts, however, predicted that companies would post stronger results in the second half, as Beijing took substantive measures to kick-start the faltering economy and reconstruction took place in provinces devastated by flooding.

 'The floods gave the country a chance to rebuild the provinces, which would help to re-ignite domestic demand and growth,' a Haitong analyst said.



Main profit indicators drop off in first half