COMBINED first-half profit of China’s listed companies grew 8.66 percent from a year earlier, Shanghai Securities News reported yesterday.

    Profit growth fell from 10 percent in the first half of 2014, reflecting China’s slowing economy.

    China’s 2,800 listed companies reported a combined profit of 1.42 trillion yuan (US$222.37 billion) during the first six months of the year, two-thirds of which was contributed by the financial sector and the country’s two oil giants, Sinopec and PetroChina, according to the article.

    Profit at smaller companies grew faster than blue-chips.

    Combined profit at companies listed on Shenzhen’s growth board ChiNext grew 20.5 percent while components of the SME board for small and medium enterprises jumped 29.1 percent, the newspaper said.

    China Construction Bank Corp., the last of the country’s big five banks to report half-year results, yesterday followed the other lenders in reporting the slowest profit growth in at least six years, as margins shrank and more loans soured. (SD-Agencies)