(Yicai) Sept. 1 -- Seventy-nine percent of the Chinese firms listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange that released first-half earnings results before yesterday had made a profit in the period.

Of the 2,225 profitable companies, earnings grew at more than 51 percent in the six months ended June 30, up from 46.6 percent a year earlier, their financial statements showed.

The 2,812 Shenzhen-listed companies that had disclosed first-half results had total net profit of CNY587.5 billion (USD80.9 billion), an 8.7 percent decline from a year ago. Their combined revenues rose 5.1 percent to CNY9.8 trillion (USD1.35 trillion).

Nearly 79 percent of the firms listed on the main board reported a profit. Of them, profits rose at 53 percent, up from 45.3 percent. Meanwhile, 80 percent of the ChiNext board’s constituents turned a profit. Of them, 49 percent logged earnings growth, up 0.7 point from a year ago.

The top 100 companies by market capitalization logged a 10 percent jump in net profit and a 13 percent gain in revenue, much higher than the average.

Thirty-six enterprises had a market value of more than CNY100 billion as of Aug. 30. They total first-half net profit of CNY213.8 billion and revenue of CNY2.3 trillion, up 21 percent and 14 percent, respectively.

The bourse’s 44 new energy companies logged CNY387.7 billion in revenue and CNY17.8 billion in net profit, gains of 48 percent and 61 percent.

Editor: Futura Costaglione