2nd Ld-Writethru: China's industrial profit growth accelerates to 14.5 pct in November

Profits of China's major industrial firms increased 14.5 percent year on year in November, up from 9.8 percent registered in October, official data showed Tuesday.

Profits of industrial companies with annual revenues of more than 20 million yuan (about 2.87 million U.S. dollars) totaled 774.57 billion yuan last month, the National Bureau of Statistics said.

In the first 11 months of the year, industrial profits expanded 9.4 percent year on year to 6.03 trillion yuan, faster than the 8.6 percent rise for the first 10 months, the NBS said.

NBS statistician He Ping said the sharp growth in November was a result of acceleration in the growth of both industrial production and sales, a significant rise in producer prices and the strong performance by the electronics, special equipment manufacturing and oil refining sectors.

China's producer price index (PPI), which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, continued its growth, rising by a five-year high of 3.3 percent year on year in November.

Among the 41 industries surveyed, 30 posted year-on-year profit growth during the first 11 months, according to the NBS.

In November, profits of computer communications and other electronic device manufacturing rose 45.4 percent year on year and those of special equipment manufacturing climbed 17.9 percent, while oil refining, coking and nuclear fuel processing saw profits up 162.7 percent from a year ago.

These three sectors drove up industrial profit growth by 6.1 percentage points last month, said He.

Meanwhile, inventories, leverage ratios and corporate costs for major industrial firms all dropped from the same period last year, he added.

Between January and November, profits of state-owned enterprises rose 8.2 percent, while those of private companies rose 5.9 percent. Foreign-invested companies posted strong growth of 10.8 percent in profits.

The main business revenue of industrial companies rose 4.4 percent in the first 11 months, and their total assets rose 6.7 percent to 105.8 trillion yuan by the end of November, the NBS said.

Despite continued growth in industrial profits this year, He said China is still facing "unfavorable conditions" in boosting quality and efficiency in the industrial area.

He said the lower comparison base last year and a price rebound in raw materials such as oil and steel have contributed greatly to this year's fast growth, and businesses are still burdened by high accounts receivable, which has seriously hampered their production and operation.

He expects industrial profits to maintain steady growth as China's deepening supply-side structural reform will optimize industrial structure and provide new growth impetus. Endi