(Yicai) Nov. 27 -- Profits at China’s industrial companies climbed for the third month in a row in October, supported by economic stimulus measures, but the pace of growth slowed.

Profits at industrial firms with an annual turnover of at least CNY20 million (USD2.9 million) rose just 2.7 percent last month from a year ago, data released today by the National Bureau of Statistics showed. Profits jumped 11.9 percent in September and 17.2 percent in August.

China’s macroeconomic policies were working well last month, delivering stable growth in industrial production, a faster pickup in operating revenues, and ongoing growth in profits at industrial enterprises, said Yu Weining, an NBS statistician.

Operating revenues climbed 2.5 percent, up for the fourth straight month. 

Among the 41 industrial categories, 30 saw a faster pace of profit growth, slower profit declines, or returned to growth in the first 10 months of this year compared with the the first nine months.

In the January to October period, profits at industrial enterprises sank 7.8 percent from a year earlier to CNY6.1 trillion (USD852.8 billion), narrowing from a 9 percent fall in the first nine months. Operating revenue rose 0.3 percent, compared with no growth in January to September.

Profits in the electricity, heat, gas, and water industries surged 40 percent in the first 10 months, up 1.3 percentage point compared with that in the first nine months. The year-on-year decline in manufacturing profits shrank by 1.6 percentage point.

Profits at equipment makers, which account for 35 percent of industrial firms, rose 1.1 percent.

Editor: Martin Kadiev