(Yicai Global) Dec. 27 -- Profits at China's industrial companies dropped last month for the first time in nearly three years.

Profits at firms with annual revenue of more than CNY20 million (USD2.9 million) fell 1.8 percent to CNY595 billion (USD86 billion) in November from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said today. It was the first decline since December 2015. Earnings growth has slowed since April, though profits jumped 3.6 percent in October.

A slowdown in production and sales, a decline in ex-factory prices of industrial products, along with rising costs and expenses, were the main factors behind November's decline, according to the statistics bureau's He Ping.

From January through November, profits rose 11.8 percent to CNY6.1 trillion (USD885.1 billion), below the 13.6 percent gain notched up in the January to October period.

Widening profit margins, cost reductions, asset-liability ratio declines were among the sector's performance changes this year through November, He added.

The profit margin at industrial companies was 6.48 percent from January to November, an annual gain of 0.16 percentage point, and the cost for each CNY100 (USD14.5) of main business profit was CNY92.56, down CNY0.21, he said.

The asset-liability ratio of industrial companies was 56.8 percent at the end of last month, down 0.4 point annually.

Editor: Ben Armour