Russian corporate profits fall 48.6% to 1.6 trln rubles in H1
MOSCOW. Aug 25 (Interfax) - Combined pre-tax earnings at medium and large enterprises (less losses) in Russia totaled 1.634 trillion rubles in the first half of 2009, down 48.6% from the same period of 2008, the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) said.
Companies had combined financial results of 3.182 trillion rubles ($133.8 billion) in January-June 2008 compared to $50.7 billion in the first half of 2009.
A total of 42,900 Russian enterprises made a combined 2.443 trillion rubles in profit in the six months, while 23,600 others incurred losses totaling 808.2 billion rubles.
The situation improved considerably in the second quarter of 2009 compared to the first quarter. Combined profits totaled 1.268 billion rubles in the second quarter, down 34% versus April-June 2008. In the first quarter, profit totaled only 366.5 billion rubles, a plunge of 70.9% against January-March 2008.
Companies working in the utilities sector (electricity, gas and water) showed the best results in the first half of 2009 with combined profits rising 94.6% compared to the same period of 2008. The fishing industry also saw profit soar 140% in the period.
Combined profits totaled 383.5 billion rubles in the extractive industry in January-June 2009, down 37.1% from the same period of 2008; 150.2 billion rubles in the utilities sector, up 94.6%; 280.5 billion rubles in manufacturing, down 78%; 29.2 billion rubles in the construction sector, down 44.4%; 263.2 billion rubles in transport and communications, down 27.2%; 394 billion rubles in wholesale and retail trade and services, down 40.1%; and 94.1 billion rubles in operations with real estate, leasing or services, down 49.2%.
The share of Russian enterprises that incurred losses in the first half of 2009 was up 6.1 percentage points compared to the same period of 2008 at 35.5%.