Higher goodwill charges dent earnings prospects of A-share firms in 2018

The risks behind an earlier wave of acquisitions among mainland-listed companies manifested itself this week, leading to earnings losses that rattled investors but pave the way for a bullish A-share market, analysts said.

On Wednesday, 197 mainland-listed companies posted interim annual losses, following the 123 firms that did so from Sunday to Tuesday, according to data compiled by Shenzhen, Guangdong province-based financial media agency stcn.com.

A large proportion of the companies are listed on the ChiNext board, China's Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises.