Kathmandu, May 27 Only 26 out of the 37 public enterprises (PEs) operating in the country had booked profit in last fiscal 2016-17. The Annual Status Update of the PEs of 2016-17 unveiled by the government today showed that the overall financial status of PEs operating in Nepal slightly improved compared to the previous fiscal year. In fiscal 2015-16, 23 PEs had booked profit. As per the report, the operating income of PEs increased by 33.9 per cent compared to fiscal 2015-16. Similarly, net profit of PEs also increased by 18.5 per cent in fiscal 2016-17 compared to the previous year. However, the dividend that the government received from PEs under non-tax revenue came down by 0.4 per cent in 2016-17 compared to fiscal 2015-16, according to the report. Meanwhile, statistics show that the dues owed by different PEs operating at a loss to the government and financial institutions surged by 6.8 per cent in fiscal 2016-17 to Rs 170 billion compared to 2015-16. The 37 different PEs, which are in operation, are broadly categorised into four categories namely, service oriented, industry oriented, service oriented and public utility PEs.