(Yicai) June 6 -- Eight out of the top 10 profitable companies in China’s Yangtze River Delta region, which encompasses Shanghai and parts of the surrounding Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Anhui provinces, were banks last year, two more than the previous year, according to the latest data.

Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology, China Zhejiang Bank and Bank of Hangzhou all entered the top 10 in 2023, pushing out industry leaders Shanghai International Port Group, SAIC Motor Corporation and Anhui Conch Cement.

Bank of Communications raked in the most profit in the region in 2023 at CNY92.7 billion (USD12.8 billion), followed by Shanghai Pudong Development Bank with CNY36.7 billion and Bank of Jiangsu with CNY28.7 billion, according to data from financial information platform Wind data.

By contrast, auto manufacturer SAIC’s net profit plunged 23.3 percent over the period due to the ongoing price war in the auto sector which has caused carmakers’ profit margins to shrink.

Conch Cement, which is a leader in the cement sector, saw its net profit plummet 33.4 percent. The downturn in the real estate sector has dampened demand for cement, leading to a big imbalance between supply and demand. As a result, the price of cement has fallen sharply.

And Shanghai International Port, the operator of the Port of Shanghai, saw its net profit slump 12.4 percent.

One hundred and ninety-six companies raked in net profit of more than CNY1 billion (USD138 million) in 2023, down from 200 in 2022. Of the 196 firms, 50 were in Shanghai, 71 in Zhejiang province, 56 in Jiangsu province and 19 in Anhui province.

In terms of cities, after Shanghai, the metropolis with the largest number of companies that earned profit of over CNY1 billion last year was Hangzhou with 27, followed by Nanjing and Suzhou with 15, Ningbo with 13 and Wuxi with 11.

The 196 firms were spread across six sectors. Twenty-one were in the electricity equipment industry, 17 were banks, 15 were from the non-banking financial sector, the transportation and biomedical sectors each had 13 and nine were automakers.

The net profit of listed firms in the Yangtze River Delta region dipped 1 percent last year from the year before to CNY963.5 billion (USD133 billion), while revenue edged up 2.3 percent to CNY16.1 trillion (USD2.2 trillion).

CNY100 Billion Club

The slight growth in revenue was mainly due to the jump in firms exceeding the CNY100 billion mark. In 2023, 23 companies realized operating income of more than CNY100 billion, amounting to CNY5.5 trillion (USD759 billion) in all and accounting for just over one third of total revenue at 34.1 percent. In 2022, there were 20 such companies, generating a combined CNY5.26 trillion (USD726 billion), and amounting to 33.4 percent of total revenue.

SAIC was the biggest earner, raking in annual revenue of CNY756.2 billion (USD104.3 billion), followed by conglomerate Wuchan Zhongda Group, property developer Greenland Holdings Corp. and steel mill Baoshan Iron and Steel.

Shanghai had the most ‘CNY100 billion’ companies in the region at 13. Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces both had four, and Anhui province two. Of the 10 biggest earners, eight came from Shanghai and two from Zhejiang province.

Going Global

Overseas markets are becoming an important channel for listed companies to develop new growth points. Last year, 1,442 mainland-listed companies earned revenue from abroad, up from 1,426 the previous year, according to Wind data. Foreign business revenue climbed 2.4 percent over the period to CNY2.4 trillion (USD331.3 billion).

The company with the most business abroad in 2023 was SAIC, which earned CNY112 billion (USD15.5 billion), accounting for 15.4 percent of total overseas revenue, a jump of nearly four percentage points year on year. The company is also the only mainland-listed firm in the region with foreign sales amounting to more than CNY100 billion.

There were 2,022 companies based in the Yangtze River Delta listed on stock exchanges, with a combined market value of CNY21.9 trillion (USD3 trillion), as of April 30, according to Wind statistics. Last year, there were 1,930 such companies with a capitalization of CNY24.5 trillion.

Hangzhou has the second largest number of listed companies in the region after Shanghai, which is a municipality directly administered by the central government, at 228 while Suzhou has 218. These are the only three cities to top 200.

Editor: Kim Taylor