China's IT, electronics mfg sees growth slowdown in Jan-Oct

BEIJING – China's electronics and information technology manufacturing industry saw slower growth in the first ten months of 2011 with 3,017 firms or 20.2 per cent of the total incurring a loss, according to statistics released by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) Wednesday.

The amount of loss saw an increase of 72.1 per cent year on year.

It is noted that Chinese IT manufacturers were reeling under the burden of high cost in past months. From January to September, the whole industry realized total operating revenue of 5.38 trillion yuan, up 20.7 per cent year on year. But the profit achieved by the industry was only 192 billion yuan, up 4 per cent on year.

The net profit margin of the industry stood at 3.6 per cent, down 0.5 percentage points from the same period in the previous year.

The main reason behind the enlarging loss was the high level of cost. In the first nine months of 2011, the cost for yielding every 100 yuan (US$15) main operating revenue in the industry was above 89 yuan, 5 percentage points higher than the national industrial average.

Meanwhile, the operating cost for China's electronic and information industry jumped 21.3 per cent year on year in the period, 0.6 percentage points higher than the growth of revenue. Besides, interest expenses of the industry surged 40.1 per cent year on year.

(c) 2011 Asia Pulse Pte Ltd.