The total net profits of 387 firms listed on China's Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses surged to 61 billion yuan (US$8.14 billion) in the first nine months, 80 percent up from the same period last year.

The figure only grew by 30 percent last year. The turnover of the 387 companies in past three quarters also rose 24 percent to 697.1 billion yuan (US$93.1 billion), according to their third quarterly reports.

The average earnings per share reached 0.26 yuan, up 0.09 yuan from the same period last year.

Of the 387 companies, the top 30 in terms of net profits contributed 38.4 billion yuan (US$5.13 billion), or 62 percent of the total. Five belong to the finance and insurance industry, including China Merchants Bank and China Mingsheng Banking Corp., ten to the refining and processing industry of metal and non-metal materials, and five to the mining industry.

Because of the sizzling stock market, securities dealers have generally reported major growth. Haitong Securities Company Limited has reported 4.1 billion yuan (US$547.4 million) worth of net profit in the first nine months, and Northeast Securities Co., Ltd. made more than one billion yuan (US$133.5 million).

A total of 121 companies said they would report annual profits similar to or lower than last year, 100 have estimated year-on-year gains in net profits, while 20 said they would report losses. The others made no estimates in their reports.

(Xinhua News Agency October 24, 2007)