More than 90% of STAR firms post H1 growth

MORE than 90 percent of companies listed on the STAR Market increased revenue in the first half of 2021.

As of the end of August, all 331 STAR-listed firms had filed their half-yearly reports, listing announcements or other details, the Shanghai Stock Exchange said yesterday.

STAR-listed companies, as the “pacesetters” in scitech innovation, have shown resilience and vitality, the exchange said.

“Compared with the same period last year, which was heavily shocked by the pandemic, the companies’ business operations resumed steady and fast growth in the first half of this year, with operating income and net profit both rising sharply year on year.”

STAR firms recorded overall revenueof304.05billionyuan (US$47.02 billion) and net profit of 43.319 billion yuan, up 55.14 percent and 105.24 percent from a year earlier.

More than 90 percent of the companies on this board achieved revenue growth, among which 56 enterprises saw their half-yearly revenue doubling the figure from the same period last year.

Revenues of around 20 percent of STAR firms exceeded 1 billion yuan in the first half.

More than 70 percent of the companies saw rises in net profit, and 30 percent achieved surges of over 100 percent — and up to 743 times — from a year ago.

But some companies’ revenue fell, mainly due to the impact of the global pandemic, rising prices of raw materials and higher research and development investment.

The six strategic emerging industries all showed strong growth in January-June.

The biopharmaceutical industry continued to push forward R&D, with revenue jumping 90 percent and the net profit to parent companies surging 176 percent year on year.

Leading enterprises in the field of COVID-19 testing and vaccines responded rapidly to market demand, and their performance improved rapidly.

The new-energy industry, with rapid expansion in capacity coupled with strong downstream demand, also led saw a rapid increase in operating income.

The new generation of information technology, energy conservation and environmental protection, new materials and high-end equipment manufacturing industries all achieved fast growth.

The R&D investment of companies listed on the STAR Market remained high, at 25.403 billion yuan in the first half.

More sci-tech innovation achievements emerged, “which shows a positive trend of technological innovation bolstering high-quality development,” the exchange said.