A staff member tests a middle-to-low-speed maglev train at CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles Co., Ltd. in Changchun, northeast China's Jilin Province, April 29, 2020. (Photo: Xinhua)

China state-owned CRRC Corporation, the world's largest rail transit equipment supplier saw revenues and net profits edge down in 2020 for the first time since 2017, according to its annual financial report released on Tuesday.

CRRC recorded 227.66 billion yuan ($34.67 billion) in revenue over the past year, a 0.59 percent decline year-on-year, with net profits standing at 11.33 billion yuan, an annual decrease of 3.93 percent. 

CRRC's overseas revenues slid 14.11 percent year-on-year to 17.06 billion yuan in 2020, missing the 20 billion yuan target. 

The 26.54 percent plummet of CRRC's rail transit equipment business, which accounted for nearly 40 percent of the company's total revenues, dragged down the firm's overall performance in 2020.  

COVID-19 epidemic caused the sharp decrease of railway passenger flows and China Railway's need for new locomotives was down, media reports said. China Railway has been the top client of CRRC for years and CRRC's sales to the passenger and cargo transportation service provider accounted for over 36 percent of its revenues in 2020.

The performance of CRRC's business in urban rail transit infrastructure soared 32.12 percent to 58.05 billion yuan, among which 52.33 billion yuan comes from subway construction.

BOCOM International Holdings Company, an investment, securities brokerage and asset management institute, has forecast that CRRC's gross margins are under pressure this year due to the increased weigh of the firm's urban rail transit infrastructure business .

Global Times