China's entertainment industry sees drop in first-half earnings

China's entertainment sector, which was on a roll last year, seems to have run into a rough patch judging by the lower-than-expected profit of top companies in the first half of this year.

China's leading Wanda Film Holding Co Ltd reported an estimated drop in first-half profit of between 55 percent and 65 percent year-on-year to between 481 million ($70 million) and 619 million yuan, compared to the same period in 2018 when the company's profit hit 1.38 billion yuan.

Another giant, Huayi Brothers Media Corp, posted an estimated loss of between 324.79 and 329.79 million yuan during the same period. Its profit last year during the first half of the year stood at 277.37 million yuan.