Beijing Enterprises profits up 93.7%
18 September 2008
The Hong Kong-listed investment arm of Beijing's city government, Beijing Enterprises Holdings, reported a 93.7% rise in its first-half earnings to US$163 million, the South China Morning Post reported. It cited strong growth in its beer and gas businesses for the increase. "Our gas sales volume in Beijing grew at a rate of more than 20% in past years and [we expect] such a trend will continue," said Beijing Enterprises Vice Chairman Zhou Si. Beijing Enterprises owns Beijing Gas, the city's only piped gas distributor, which pumped 25% more gas in the first half of the year than in the same period a year ago. The company's Shanghai-listed Yanjing Beer unit saw its sales rise 6.2% in the first half. Overall revenue for Beijing Enterprises rose 157.9% to US$1.21 billion.