Boosted by the booming finance, steel making and auto sectors, Chinese listed companies reported a nearly 32 percent earnings growth for the period ending in June.

　　The 1,267 firms listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets posted a half-year earnings of 50.03 million yuan (US6.03 million) on average for the first six months, an increase of 31.75 percent from the corresponding period last year.

　　Average revenue stood at 898 million yuan, up 30.09 percent from the year-earlier period.

　　When it came to the average per-share earnings, the figure rose to 0.1031 yuan from 0.0825 yuan. Out of the 1,267 publicly traded firms, 176 reported net losses.

　　However, the earnings growth in the first half did not translatesintosa broad-based rise in net profit for listed firms as figures showed that 43.14 percent of the total earnings came from five sectors: finance, steel making, auto manufacturing, power supply and petrochemical.

　　These industries benefited from the country's 8.2 percent economic growth in the first half as the government increased spending on infrastructure construction.

　　Among them, Baoshan Iron & Steel Co Ltd earned 3.8 billion yuan, a jump of 183 percent year-on-year. China Petroleum & Chemical Corp more than doubled its first-half net profit to 9.8 billion yuan and China Merchants Bank's earnings rose 32 percent to 1.1 billion yuan.

　　"Generally speaking, the earnings performances were satisfying as impressive growth was achieved by certain sectors. But most of the other sectors did not achieve too much growth in the first half," said Zhang Qi, an analyst at Haitong Securities Co Ltd.

　　When the SARS epidemic ravaged through the country in the second quarter of the year, the aviation and the hotel industries were the most severely hit.

　　As many as 11 out of the 21 listed hoteliers posted corporate losses in the first half with per-share earnings dropping to only 0.009 yuan from 0.072 yuan previously.

　　China Eastern Airlines Co Ltd and China Southern Airlines Co Ltd, two of the country's three major airlines, both flewsintosthe red for the first six months, losing 1.42 billion yuan and 1.16 billion yuan respectively.

　　China's listed companies are required to release their half-year financial data between July and August every year.

　　Last year, the 1,204 firms on the two stock markets posted an average net profit of 37.94 million yuan for the first six months, down 13.62 percent from the same period of the previous year.