Most Chinese listed companies expect H1 profits

BEIJING - Nearly 60 percent of China's A-share listed companies have said they are set to record profits in the first half of this year, new survey results have showed.

Offering slight comfort amid rising fears of a slowing economy, 322 of the 851 listed companies in the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets told the China Securities Journal they would register profit surges in the period, according to a report in the publication on Wednesday.

Another 152 said they would make profits in the first six months.

Food and drink producers have performed strongly, as 11 of the 19 expected increased profits. The Luohe-based Shuanghui Group, China's largest meat-processing company, estimated profits would quadruple to 418 million yuan ($66.3 million) at least. Most liquor makers also presented good results.

Meanwhile, 224 companies expected fewer profits than the same period a year ago, and 125 forecast losses. Eleven said results were uncertain.

Property developers took a dim view of their prospects. Although housing transactions rebounded in May, it failed to reverse their sluggish performance, as two thirds of the 27 developers expected losses or profits contraction.

China's economy slowed to a three-year low of 8.1 percent in the first quarter of 2012. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index logged one of the world's worst performances in the three months, with its increase of 2.88 percent dwarfed by Nasdaq's 18.67-percent gain and Tokyo's 19.26-percent surge, according to the China Securities Journal.

Against this backdrop, only 27 companies presented strong performance excluding the base effect. Baoshan Iron & Steel Co (Baosteel), the nation's largest steelmaker, expected profits to double to at least 10 billion yuan ($1.59 billion) in the first half.

China's listed companies regularly publish their semi-annual reports in July and August.