Zhu Hong of the Bureau of Statistics: industrial profits grew steadily in August

SMM News: industrial profits increased steadily in August-- Zhu Hong, a senior statistician in the Industry Department of the National Bureau of Statistics, interpreted the profit data of industrial enterprises.

In August, with the major achievements made in the prevention and control of the domestic epidemic, the implementation of the tasks of "six stability" and "six guarantees" became increasingly effective, the production and operation of enterprises improved, the cycle of supply and demand gradually improved, and the profits of industrial enterprises increased steadily. In August, the profits of industrial enterprises above the national scale increased by 19.1% compared with the same period last year, continuing the trend of steady growth. From January to August, cumulative profits fell 4.4% from a year earlier, 3.7 percentage points lower than in January-July. The profit growth in August shows the following characteristics:

First, the steady recovery of production and demand. In terms of production, in August, the added value of industries above scale increased by 5.6% over the same period last year, 0.8 percentage points faster than in July. In terms of demand, the cumulative decline in national fixed asset investment further narrowed, basically returning to the level of the same period last year, and the growth rate of retail sales of social consumer goods became regular for the first time in that month. The continuous improvement of production and demand has promoted the sales growth of industrial enterprises. In August, the industrial producer price index continued to pick up, and the operating income of industrial enterprises increased by 4.9% year-on-year, 1.6 percentage points higher than in July. The expansion of enterprise production scale strongly supported the steady growth of profits.

Second, the unit cost has continued to decline, and the profit situation of enterprises has improved. A package of tax cuts and fee cuts and other policies to bail out and benefit enterprises continued to show effectiveness. In August, the cost of every 100 yuan of operating income of industrial enterprises above size decreased by 0.47 yuan compared with the same period last year, and the cost of every 100 yuan of operating income decreased by 0.02 yuan compared with the same period last year. While the operating pressure of the enterprise has been continuously alleviated, the profit situation of the enterprise has improved significantly. In August, the operating income profit margin of industrial enterprises above scale increased by 0.8 percentage points compared with the same period last year, which has been improved for four consecutive months compared with the same period last year.

Third, the profits of the mining industry have been significantly repaired, and the profit growth of the raw material manufacturing industry has accelerated. In August, the supply and demand cycle within the industry was improved, and the continuous recovery of the downstream industry enhanced the driving role of the upstream industry. Among them, thanks to the pick-up in demand and the continued rebound in international commodity prices such as crude oil and iron ore, the profits of the mining industry have been significantly repaired and the profits of the raw materials manufacturing industry have accelerated. Mining profits fell 11.9 per cent in August from a year earlier, a sharp drop of 28.7 percentage points from July. Profits in the raw materials manufacturing industry increased by 32.5%, 17.8 percentage points faster than in July, and increased profits of industries above scale by 6.7 percentage points. From the perspective of specific industries, the profit growth of oil processing, iron and steel and other industries has accelerated due to the improvement of downstream demand, the rebound of product prices and the low base in the same period. In August, profits in the oil processing industry rose 148.2 percent from a year earlier, 101.6 percentage points faster than in July, and cumulative profits made profits for the first time this year. Profits in the iron and steel industry increased by 68.3 percent, an increase of 46.2 percent.

Fourth, the profits of the equipment manufacturing industry have maintained relatively rapid growth. In August, the profits of the equipment manufacturing industry increased by 23.1% compared with the same period last year, driving the profits of industrial enterprises of all sizes and above by 8.1 percentage points. Among them, profits in the general equipment manufacturing industry increased by 37.0 percent over the same period last year, and the electrical machinery and equipment manufacturing industry grew by 13.3 percent, which was 11.0 and 5.2 percentage points faster than that in July, respectively. Profits in the special equipment, electronics, instrumentation and other industries continued to grow by double digits. Affected by the decline in production growth and reduced investment income, the growth rate of the automobile industry has slowed down from July, but it still maintains a rapid growth rate of 55.8%, which is significantly higher than the industrial average.

Fifth, the amount of losses of enterprises has declined, and the area of losses has shrunk month by month. With the further improvement of the operating conditions of enterprises, the number of loss-making enterprises continues to decrease, and the amount of losses decreases significantly. In August, the losses of loss-making enterprises fell sharply by 37.0% compared with the same period last year. At the end of August, the loss area of industrial enterprises above scale was 1.2 percentage points lower than that at the end of July, and continued to show a trend of shrinking month by month.

The stable recovery of profits of industrial enterprises in August has been further consolidated, but it should be noted that from January to August, the growth rate of operating income and profits of industrial enterprises has not yet become positive, the growth rate of accounts receivable continues to rise, and at the same time, the environment at home and abroad is complex and changeable. the sustained and steady growth of corporate profits still faces some pressure. In the next stage, we should persist in taking supply-side structural reform as the main line, further tap the potential of domestic demand, stimulate the vitality of the main body of the market, strive to smooth the cycle of supply and demand, constantly consolidate and expand the achievements of economic recovery, and steadily improve the quality of industrial economic development.