Markets are braced for a decline in earnings at some of mainland China’s biggest publicly traded companies, reported the South China Morning Post.
Firms ranging from Gree Electric Appliances to Wanda Film Holding have sounded the alarm, warning investors about worsening earnings, as the 3,897 companies listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges kick-off the first-quarter reporting season this month.
The results are expected to provide first insight over the next two weeks into the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on company profits.
Gree, China’s biggest air-conditioner manufacturer, said it expected earnings for the first three months to drop between 70% and 77% from a year earlier for its biggest quarterly profit decline in at least a decade. It said the outbreak had disrupted sales and delayed the reopening of factories in upstream as well as downstream industries.
