Mixed half-year fortunes expected

A total of 571 companies, or 62.5 percent, of the 913 listed firms that had released preliminary half-year results by Wednesday are expecting to see profit growth, according to statistics provided by Shanghai Securities News.

Of those 571, 110 claim they are expecting higher growth than previously expected, 131 companies expect to continue growing their profits, 282 expect smaller increases in profits, and 48 companies expect to reduce their losses.

On the other hand, 197 listed companies expect to register a loss, 50 expect to fall into the red for the first-time, 79 enterprises expect to continue to make losses, and 16 companies were still unsure about the likely outcome.