STOCKS on the Small and Medium Enterprise Board in Shenzhen enjoyed faster growth in net profits last year than start-up companies on ChiNext, China's Nasdaq-style board.

The combined net profit of 552 companies on the SME board surged 32.48 percent from a year ago to 79.75 billion yuan (US$12.14 billion) in 2010, statistics by Shanghai Securities News showed yesterday. Total income jumped an annual 33.47 percent to 889.89 billion yuan.

Shenzhen-based Han's Laser Technology Co, whose net earnings soared 122 times from 2009's, led the 69 firms whose net profit growth more than doubled last year. But 12 SMEs saw their accounts in the red in 2010.

Firms listed on ChiNext, home of high-growth start-ups, saw tougher conditions last year.

While all 183 firms managed to keep their business sheet in balance, profit growth fell to 31.54 percent from 45 percent in 2009. The start-ups created net profits of 13.04 billion yuan in 2010 while income was 76.21 billion yuan.