The company posted a $HK39.8 billion ($A5.1 billion) profit for the 12 months to December, down $8.6 billion on last year primarily due to the Sino writedown.

The impairment on the struggling WA operation came in at $13.7 billion, or about $US1.7 billion, and was at the upper end of the $1.4-1.8 billion hit forecast earlier this year.

Excluding the Sino writedown, CITIC’s profit was 10% higher than the previous year mainly due to a solid performance from businesses in the financial services sector.

CITIC Bank was a major contributor to the company’s bottom line, while other businesses struggled against lower commodity prices.

“Broadly speaking, our multi-sector business model will not change, but we aim to have greater balance between our financial and non-financial businesses in the long-term,” CITIC chairman Chang Zhenming said.

“To achieve this, improving the profitability of our existing non-financial businesses and investing in areas with higher returns and significant growth prospects are priorities.”

The CITIC result is the latest writedown for the iron ore sector, which continues to struggle against low prices.

Along with the soft market, the Sino project has also been hampered by legal disputes and operational problems.

The project is billions of dollars over budget, and only two of six processing lines have been completed.

All six production lines are planned to be operating by the end of 2016, with lines three and four targeted to begin commissioning later this year.

The Sino project is the largest magnetite iron ore development in Australia, and made its first shipment in late-2013.

Production from the mine has been sold to Chinese steel producers and is also directed to CITIC’s own steel plants.