BEIJING - China's State-owned enterprises (SOEs) reported a monthly decline in profits in August though major indicators pointed to a robust growth above 20 percent year-on-year, according to a statement by the Ministry of Finance on Sept 19.

The country's SOEs' total profits totaled 191.9 billion yuan ($30.05 billion) in August, down 10.5 percent from July, said the MOF.

SOEs' profits have declined month-on-month since July, indicating a weakening profitability among those enterprises.

Taking the first eight months together, the SOEs gross profits rose 21.9 percent year-on-year, reaching 1.52789 trillion yuan. Net profit stood at 1.15388 trillion yuan in the January-August period, according to the ministry.

Business revenues rose by 25.3 percent year-on-year to 23.724 trillion yuan during the first eight months. On a monthly basis, the SOEs' revenues added only 0.2 percent in August.

The SOEs turned in taxes of 2.07939 trillion yuan, up 28.8 percent from one year earlier. The net sales margin ratio stood at 4.9 percent from January to August, down 0.2 percentage points from a year ago.

The non-ferrous metals, coal, commerce and trade, petroleum and postal telecommunication sectors reported big year-on-year gains in profits for the first eight months.