Sinopec booked third-quarter net profit of 8.3 billion yuan, down by 38.7% from 13.41 billion yuan a year earlier, Xinhua reported. Sinopec posted 17.64 billion yuan of net profits for the first three quarters, a 63.7% fall comparing to the same period last year. Sinopec attributes the fall to higher crude prices that have pushed its refining business deep into the red. In the first 6 months of 2008, it has received government subsidies of 45.1 billion yuan in total including fiscal subsidies, import subsidies and import tariff rebates for crude oil. Cash flow for the first three quarters was 3.427 billion, down 103.4% from the same period last year.
Source: Xinhua, October 29, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune//2008-10/29/content_10276297.htm