(Bloomberg) -- The fall in profits of Chinese industrial enterprises narrowed in April from the previous month as China’s economy gradually recovered from the coronavirus slump.
Industrial profits dropped 4.3% in April from a year ago, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed Wednesday. That was much smaller than the almost 35% drop in March.
Profits contracted 27.4% in the first four months of the year and were down 46% at state-owned enterprises and 17.2% at private companies. Auto industry profits rose 29.5% in April after dropping 80.4% in March.
The improvement in April was due to faster production and sales, as well as an significant increase in investment returns and the comparison with a weak period in 2019, NBS official Zhu Hong said in the statement.
The slow recovery of the economy looks set to continue into May, according to a set of early indicators compiled by Bloomberg. Manufacturing is also forecast to have improved.
However, deeper producer prices deflation and sluggish external demand will likely continue to drag down company profits. Prices at the factory gate declined 3.1% in April and that is expected to get worse this month.
(Updates to add chart, details on car industry profits.)
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