According to the latest financial report released by China's steel giant Baosteel Group, in the first half of 2011, the company's net profit totaled RMB 5.08 billion ($795 million), decreasing by 36.91 percent from the same period of 2010. Meanwhile, its earnings per share (EPS) came to RMB 0.29 ($0.045), down 36.91 percent year on year.
In the given period, despite the weak profitability, Baosteel's net profit was still higher than other domestic steel producers. As per the statistics issued by China Iron and Steel Association (CISA), in H1, the association's member steel companies achieved an aggregate net profit of RMB 56.4 billion ($8.8 billion), of which one tenth was contributed by Baosteel.
Baosteel pointed out that, due to the surges of raw material costs, its gross profit rate slipped by 7.3 percentage points year on year in the first six months of this year. In addition to the softening of demand, its heavy plate segment has suffered from great losses.