Of the total 47 sectors, companies in 4 categories lagged behind in earnings, according to the Securities and Exchange News Agency.
Earning of listed companies improved despite the fact that their stock prices crashed sharply in the second half of the last fiscal year.
Commodity companies and some investment holdings offered rewarding investment to shareholders in terms of both Earnings Per Share (EPS) and Dividends Per Share (DPS).
EPS represents a company's net income allotted to each share of its common stock. It is seen as a ratio that gauges how profitable a company is per share of its stock. DPS calculates the portion of a company's earnings that is paid out to shareholders.
Investment holding companies reported an annual 1,000% growth in their EPS last year. Most commodity-based companies were the next best profit makers.
Given their export orientation, revenues of most commodity stocks jumped thanks to the steep increase in foreign exchange rates in Iran and rising prices in the international commodity markets.
Accordingly, gains generated by refinery companies rose 320% followed by base metal companies 168% and chemical companies 134%.
The auto sector was the top loss-making industry in the bourse posting an average 133% decline in gain per share.
This was followed by textiles companies with average 25% decline and sugar companies with 8% decline in profit per share in the last fiscal year compared with the year before.
Dividends
Companies paid more of their earnings last year in dividend to investors compared to the preceding fiscal year.
Except for one sector, dividends in all other sectors rose last year with machinery companies in the lead. The DPS in this group increased an average 500% annually, followed by 380% DPS rise in companies active in oil derivatives.
Thanks to the unprecedented growth in the share market in the initial months of last year, and partial success in recovering a portion of non-performing loans, most listed banks showed profit last year after years in the red.
DPS paid by listed banks rose 340% last year. Annual DPS growth for insurance and investment companies was 230% and 250%, respectively.