The majority of the 11 state-owned corporations in Malawi are in the red with only four of them showing signs of profitability or moving towards break-even point, independent newspaper The Nation cited an economic report as saying on its website Wednesday.

The report indicated that of a total of 11 fully-owned government entities, only the Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom), Malawi Housing Corporation (MHC), Malawi Posts Corporation (MPC) and Central Region Water Board (CRWB) were making profits.

The list of blue chips also includes the Malawi Telecommunications Limited (MTL), in which the Malawian government still holds a 20 percent stake after selling 80 percent to a consortium led by Press Corporation Limited.

According to the report, Air Malawi, Blantyre Water Board (BWB), Lilongwe Water Board, Southern Region Water Board (SRWB), Northern Region Water Board (NRWB) and Admarc are in the red.

"The performance of most of these companies in 2005/06 has been largely characterized by low productivity, high operational costs and declining profitability," reads the report cited by the newspaper.

The Escom expects a net profit of 800 million kwacha (6 million U.S. dollars), MPC 37 million kwacha (276,000 dollars), MHC 30 million kwacha (224,000 dollars) while CRWB expects a nominal profit of 6 million kwacha (45,000 dollars), says the report.

It says MTL had until privatization showed a net profit of 1.2 billion kwacha (9 million dollars), up from 444 million kwacha (3. 3 million dollars) in the 2003/04 fiscal year.

The list of distressed entities is led by SRWB followed by Air Malawi and Admarc.

Source: Xinhua