Biz Scene: MARKET

Stocks down slightly

Chinese shares were down slightly yesterday, but the benchmark Shanghai index remained near its record high.

The Shanghai Composite Index closed at 4,210.33 points, down 0.07 percent, after it jumped 7.68 percent over the previous two trading days, buoyed by expectations for strong first-half corporate profits. Turnover in the Shanghai A-share market was heavy at 141.62 billion yuan yesterday. A total of 314 companies gained and 468 recorded losses.

CITIC profit surge

CITIC Securities, China's largest listed brokerage, said yesterday that its net profit in the first half of this year is expected to rise more than 5.5 times over the previous year.

The company cited the strong Chinese stock market and heavy trading turnover for the sharp increase. In the first half of last year, CITIC Securities posted a net profit of 628 million yuan.

Losses for Tom Online

Tom Online, the Internet arm of Tom Group, suffered a loss in the second quarter as sales plunged and a one-time charge was made on its core wireless Internet business, the company said.

The company posted a net loss of $9.56 million from a net profit of $11.75 million in the same period last year, while revenue fell 30.4 percent to $34.39 million. A charge of $6.82 million was booked against its wireless Internet business and a loss of $3.95 million was recorded on the Tom-Eachnet venture, an online auction site in which Tom holds 51 percent stake.

(China Daily 07/25/2007 page15)