The growth marked a slight slowdown from 25.3 percent in the first 10 months, in line with slowing economic growth. Profitability of ferrous metal mining companies and oil and gas Profits of the oil and natural gas exploration and production industry rose 35.4 percent while profits of ferrous metal mining companies surged 59.1 percent, the agency said. Profits of transport equipment firms rose 14.2 percent. By contrast, profits in the petroleum refinery, coking and nuclear fuel processing industry slumped 97.8 percent, while those of electricity generation and heating firms fell 8.3 percent. In November alone, industrial firms made profits of 542.1 billion yuan, up 17.9 percent from a year earlier, the bureau said. Profits of state-owned firms fell 14.2 percent in November from a year ago to 102.4 billion yuan, it said.