Business revenues of China's state-owned enterprises (SOEs) dropped 7.4 percent in the first five months over the same period last year, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said on Monday.

Business revenue stood at 7.76 trillion yuan (US$1.14 trillion) in the first five months, with profits at 425.4 billion yuan (US$62.28 billion), down 30.3 percent year on year.

The rate of decline in profits was two percentage points lower than the January-April figure.

The fall in SOE profits was slowing, as the stimulus package had positive effects on their performances, said a statement from the MOF.

The firms include the SOEs directly controlled by the central government and other SOEs supervised by local governments, but exclude state-owned financial enterprises.

(Xinhua News Agency June 22, 2009)