The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the world's largest bank by market value, continued to be the country's most profitable company last year as it reaped 129.4 billion yuan (18.95 billion U.S. dollars) of after-tax profits.

So far 996 companies listed in China's Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges have released their annual business reports as of Thursday. They reported a combined 7.2 trillion yuan of business revenues for 2009, down 1.38 percent year on year, the Beijing-based China Securities Journal reported Thursday.

Total net profits of these companies were 801.9 billion yuan for 2009, up 19.21 percent compared to the previous year, with more than 70 percent of them reporting year on year growths in net profits, the report said.

Public utility companies fared well. Five electric power companies report their net profits grew more than 100 percent in the past year. The Guangxi Guiguan Electric Power Co., Ltd., for instance, boosted its net profit by 959.73 percent to 328 million yuan.

Baosteel Co.,Ltd, the country's largest steelmaker, however, said in its annual business report released Thursday that net profit for 2009 was 5.82 billion yuan, a decline of almost 10 percent year on year. Business revenue fell to 148.53 billion yuan, nearly down 26 percent.