PROFITS at China’s State-owned firms fell 6.6 percent in the first eight months of 2015 from a year earlier, the finance ministry said yesterday, quickening from a 2.3 percent drop in the January-July period.

    Profits of State-owned companies, excluding financial firms, totaled 1.6 trillion yuan (US$251.19 billion) in the January-August period, the ministry said.

    Revenues of State firms totaled 29.2 trillion yuan in the first eight months, down 5.9 percent from a year ago, the ministry said.

    Firms controlled by local governments reported a 1 percent drop in profits in the first eight months, which compared with a 3.6 percent rise in profits in the January-July period, the ministry said.

    Profits made by firms in transportation, electronics and chemical sectors rose sharply while earnings of firms in the petrochemical, oil and construction materials industries dropped, it said.

    Companies in steel, coal and non-ferrous metal sectors remained in the red, the ministry added.(SD-Agencies)