Air China profit drops 63%

    AIR China yesterday reported a 63 percent fall in its first-quarter earnings in line with its own forecast of a 55 percent to 65 percent drop.

    The airline’s net profit was 92.7 million yuan (US$14.82 million) from January to March, compared with 248.6 million yuan a year earlier, it said in a stock exchange filing. Air China said earlier this month it expected its first-quarter net profit to fall 55 to 65 percent year on year due to foreign exchange losses incurred from yuan depreciation.

    Baosteel net profit falls 7.2%

    BAOSHAN Iron & Steel Co. (Baosteel), China’s biggest listed steelmaker by market value, yesterday posted a 7.2 percent fall in its first-quarter net profit due to a weak economy and overcapacity.

    Baosteel’s net profit was 1.5 billion yuan (US$240 million), compared with 1.63 billion yuan for the same period last year, the company said in a filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange. China’s steel sector is facing its biggest challenges since the global financial crisis of 2008 as mills deal with heavy debt loads, weak demand growth, chronic oversupply and mounting environmental protection costs.

    SAIC Motor to appoint new president

    SAIC Motor, China’s biggest carmaker, plans to promote the head of its passenger car unit to become the firm’s new president.

    Vice president Chen Zhixin, who heads SAIC Motor’s passenger car unit, will become SAIC Motor’s president, according to a report by Xinhua. SAIC Motor’s current president, Chen Hong, will become chairman, replacing 63-year-old Hu Maoyuan, who will retire, domestic newspapers reported.

    CITIC Securities posts 34.4% rise in profit

    CITIC Securities Co., China’s biggest brokerage, yesterday posted a 34.4 percent rise in first-quarter earnings on strong brokerage profits.

    Net profit in January through March rose to 1.31 billion yuan (US$209.50 million) from 975.3 million yuan a year earlier, the company said in an unaudited exchange filing. CITIC Securities benefited from the resumption of the initial public offerings (IPO) market in January and February of this year, with brokerage earnings up 110.4 percent to 3.1 billion yuan from 1.5 billion in the same period last year. The company reported a 25 percent rise in 2013 net profit March 27, a sharp turnaround from the previous year when profit fell by two thirds.