Companies listed on China's two stock exchanges are showing an average increase of 10.9 percent in net profits according to their annual reports, Shanghai Securities News has reported.

The figure comes from the reports of the 709 companies -- 51.53 percent of the total -- published to date, the newspaper said.

The rise shows a slowing down compared with the 30-percent growth in 2004, but this failed to stop the stock index from hitting a new high on Monday when the composite index of the Shanghai Stock Exchange closed at 1,319.47 points, up 1.63 percent.

The net profit of the 709 companies totaled 143.099 billion yuan (17.9 billion U.S. dollars), with dividends per share reaching 0.32 yuan.

The reports showed 651 companies recording profits and 58 with losses.

The newspaper said the profits of 76 companies had jumped over 100 percent from a year ago.

Of the 709 companies, 324 firms have completed the split share structure reform. Their net profits reached 69.973 billion yuan, accounting for almost 50 percent of the total.

The split share structure, referring to the existence of both publicly-owned tradable shares and a large volume of state-owned non-tradable shares, was regarded as a major factor leading to the last four years of bearish activity on the market.

To make all their shares tradable, listed firms participating in the reform have to offer additional shares or funds to public investors as compensation for potential losses in their stock folios when the non-tradable shares hit the market.

Figures show net profits in the paper and printing industry soared 230.87 percent last year, the highest of all industries.

The construction, finance and insurance, mining, real estate and transport industries saw rises of more than 20 percent.

Timber and furniture, agriculture, forestry, fisheries and electronics, however, were the least profitable sectors.

Due to the rising costs of raw materials and crude oil, the profit growth rates of petrochemicals, power and metal companies dropped remarkably.

About 60 percent of the companies have proposed plans of dividend distribution in their yearly reports, and most will give dividends to shareholders.

Source: Xinhua