OREANDA-NEWS. June 09, 2010. The share of loss-making companies in Belarus increased to 12.4% of the total number as of April 1, 2010 from 12% as of April 1, 2009, an official with the National Statistics Committee told.

Net loss fell 3.1% to 670 billion Belarusian rubles (Br).

The average return on sales in January-March 2010 was at 9.2%, down from 9.7% in January-March 2009.

In the manufacturing sector, the share of loss-makers was at 20% as of April 1, 2010, down 4 percentage points from last year. The average profitability of industrial enterprises amounted to 9.8% in January-March 2010, up from 8.1% in January-March 2009.

The share of loss-makers in the fuel industry rose to 30% in January-March 2010 from 5%, and profitability rate was 10%, down from 10.1%.

In agriculture, the share of loss-making enterprises was at 2.3% as of April 1, 2010, up from 1.7%. Return on sales fell to 3% from 7%.

The share of loss-makers in the transport sector, including pipeline transport, stood at 16.9% as of April 1, 2010, up from 14.9% as of April 1, 2009. The profitability of transport services decreased to 14.4% from 22.1%.

In construction, there were 14.4% of loss-makers as of April 1, 2010, compared to 10.6% as of the same date in 2009. The profitability of the construction sector in the period decreased to 7.5% from 10.4% as of Aprl 1, 2009.

The share of loss-making enterprises in the communication sector went up to 5.7% as of April 1, 2010 from 3.8% on April 1, 2009. The profitability of communication companies dropped 4.8 percentage points to 29.7%.