PetroChina net profit down 68.1%

    PETROCHINA Co., China’s biggest oil and gas producer, Friday reported a 68.1 percent drop in net earnings for the first nine months of the year, as oil prices fell.

    The company’s average realized oil price declined by 48.8 percent to US$51.16 a barrel. Nine-month net profit was 30.6 billion yuan (US$4.81 billion), down from 96.0 billion in the same year-earlier period. Net profit for the July-September period declined 81.4 percent to 5.2 billion yuan from 27.9 billion yuan a year earlier. Operating profit at the exploration and production segment fell 68.1 percent in the first nine months to 46.5 billion yuan, while crude output rose 3.3 percent on year to 722.9 million barrels.

    Zoomlion posts third-quarter loss

    DOMESTIC construction machinery maker Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science and Technology Co. Friday reported a net loss in the third quarter, in line with its own forecast, due to a sustained downturn of the domestic market.

    In the June-September period, Zoomlion booked a net loss of 208.4 million yuan (US$33 million), in line with its own forecast. It made a profit of 100.2 million yuan a year earlier.

    Low fuel prices lift Air China profit

    AIR China said Friday its net profit jumped 98.1 percent from a year earlier in the first nine months thanks to lower fuel prices and robust travel demand.

    Air China made 6.28 billion yuan (US$988.17 million) in the January-September period, in line with its own forecast. It made 3.17 billion yuan a year earlier, according to a stock exchange filing. China Eastern Airlines also reported strong nine-month results, while China Southern Airlines expected to more than triple its earnings during the period due to lower fuel costs.

    Sany Heavy Industry swings into red

    MAJOR domestic construction machinery maker Sany Heavy Industry Co. said Friday it swung to a loss in the third quarter, affected by a supply glut in its home market.

    Sany made a 296.4 million yuan (US$46.91 million) in net loss in the July-September period, compared with a net profit of 222.8 million yuan a year earlier, it said, marking the first loss since the fourth quarter of 2014. Nine-month net profit fell by a sharp 97.6 percent to just 38.5 million yuan, the company said.