OREANDA-NEWS. December 07, 2009. The share of loss-making companies in Belarus increased to 9.1% of the total number as of October 1, 2009 from 6.5% as of October 1, 2008, an official with the National Statistics Committee.

Net loss hiked 3.5 times to 1.2 trillion Belarusian rubles (Br).

The average return on sales in January-September 2009 was at 10.6%, down from 15.9% in January-September 2008.

In industry, the share of loss-makers was at 18.6% as of October 1, 2009, up 6.7 percentage points from last year. The average profitability of industrial enterprises amounted to 9.9% in January-September 2009, down from 18.8% in January-September 2008.

In agriculture, the share of loss-making enterprises was at 0.7% as of October 1, 2009, up from 0.6%. The profitability of sales fell to 5.5% from 10.2%.

The share of loss-makers in the transport sector, including pipeline transport, stood at 5% as of October 1, 2009, up from 4.1% as of October 1, 2008. The profitability of transport services increased to 20.6% from 16.3%.

In construction, there were 7.8% of loss-makers as of October 1, 2009 compared to 5.9% as of the same date in 2008. The profitability of the construction sector in the period increased to 11.6% from 11.7% as of October 1, 2008.

The share of loss-making enterprises in the communication sector went up to 6.6% as of October 1, 2009 from 3.9% on October 1, 2008. The profitability of communication companies dropped 4.9 percentage points to 33.8%.

Profitability at chemical and petrochemical companies fell to 20.9% from 65.6%.