A record percentage of Asian companies are destroying value for their shareholders, in a sign of the increasing strains caused by the region’s slowing economies and as the prospect of higher US interest rates looms.

亚洲企业中股东价值在流失的比例创下纪录，这表明，在美国加息前景隐隐迫近之际（编者注：美联储上周四决定维持利率不变），该地区经济放缓对企业造成越来越大的压力。

A total of 38 per cent of companies in the region — excluding Japan — return less on their invested capital than those funds cost them in the first place, according to analysts at CLSA, the regional brokerage. The percentage burning through cash — 13 per cent — is also at a three-year peak, while a fifth are borrowing to pay dividends.

亚洲券商里昂证券(CLSA)的分析显示，在除日本外的亚洲地区，投入资本回报率小于资本最初获得成本的企业比例达38%。而烧钱企业的比例达13%，同样处于3年来的峰值，同时五分之一的企业正在用借的钱支付股息。

The study, of the 2,500 biggest companies in Asia-Pacific outside Japan, comes as company watchers raise the alarm about the quality of financial reporting, notably in Hong Kong. There, the number of warnings that auditors have made about the health of companies has risen sharply.

里昂证券公布这份对（除日本以外的）亚太地区最大的2500家公司的研究之际，正值观察人士对企业（特别是香港地区的企业）财务报表的质量发出了警告。在香港，审计师就企业健康状况发出警告的数量急剧增加。

The number of profit warnings to the city’s stock exchange is also rising fast, with 1,285 filed so far this year; the highest by this point in the calendar in the eight years for which data are available.

审计师向香港证券交易所递交的盈利警告数量也迅速增加，今年迄今已递交1285次警告，是该数据有记录8年以来相同时间段内次数最多的一年。

CLSA’s findings were part of a report screening the region’s companies for so-called red flags that could signal issues with the quality of their earnings or balance sheets.

里昂证券的发现是对亚洲企业进行所谓“危险信号”审查的报告的一部分。这些信号可能显示出相关企业在利润或资产负债表状况方面存在问题。

“Asian companies have tended to focus more on top-line growth than profitability,” said Desh Peramunetilleke, head of microstrategy at CLSA, and author of the report, who added that rising US rates were likely to increase the strains companies faced. “Where sales growth is slowing, higher interest rates are the last thing you’d want.”

“相比盈利能力，亚洲企业往往更关注总收入增长，”里昂证券的微观策略主管德什椠拉穆内蒂拉克(Desh Peramunetilleke)说。作为该报告的作者，他又说，美国加息很可能加剧企业面临的压力。“在销售收入增长放缓的情况下，你最不想看到的就是加息。”