Listed companies forecast sluggish H1

Of the 845 listed companies on Shenzhen and Shanghai stock exchanges that have released their financial performance forecast in the first half of 2012, 45.4 percent of them reported a fall or a loss in earnings and 7.9 percent of them are expected to suffer losses for the first time, according to statistics ending on May 13 from Wind Information Co Ltd, a leading provider of financial statistics and information.

As the data shows, 23 listed property developers have announced their first-half performance forecast and 16 out of them expected to witness a slump in net profit or even suffer a loss, accounting for 69.6 percent of the total number.

Real estate developer China Calxon Group Co Ltd reported a loss of 350 million yuan in the first six months. The developer attributed the expected loss to the negative effect of the country's property market on its sales projects, accompanied by the small number of projects that could be completed in the first half of this year.

In the manufacturing industry, 618 listed companies released the forecast for the Jan-Jun period. Among them, 50 enterprises reported deficits for the first time, while 29 continued to report a loss in earnings. Only 10 companies expected their performances to turn losses into profits. In general, 264 listed manufacturing companies forecast a drop or a loss in their financial statement.

Reduction in demand resulting from the economic slowdown is regarded as the main factor causing the forecast of declining performances, according to Economic Information Daily.

The rate of decline of listed companies' profits reached a peak in last year's fourth quarter. The month-on-month rate of decline reduced from the first quarter of this year, Li Huiyong, a chief analyst at Shenyin & Wanguo Securities Research Co was quoted as saying by the Economic Information Daily.

Li also expected the overall profitability performance of listed companies would witness a fall compared with that of 2011 but there will be an upward trend.