Kweichow Moutai's Q3 profits surge 106%

BEIJING -- The net profits of Kweichow Moutai Co, China's leading high-end liquor producer, surged 106.05 percent year-on-year to reach 3.42 billion yuan ($543.41 million) in the third quarter of 2012.

The growth rate almost doubled a 54.75-percent rise last year, according to the firm's report filed to the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Friday.

The profit surge brought Kweichow Moutai's net profits in the first nine months to 10.42 billion yuan, up 58.62 percent from the previous year, slightly better than a 57.12-percent growth seen in 2011.

The company's total business revenues rose 46.10 percent year-on-year to 19.93 billion yuan in the first three quarters, according to the report.

Kweichow Moutai raised its liquor products prices by 20-30 percent on Sept 1, after the company's last price hike in early 2011.

Encouraged by the good performance, the company said it plans to invest 6.31 billion yuan in seven projects to increase its production capacities.

Food and liquor companies listed in China's A-shares saw a 3-percent increase in stock prices in October. Wuliangye, another premium liquor producer in China, forecast earlier that its net profits will reach 2.74 billion yuan in the third quarter, up 88.26 percent year-on-year.

Jian Aihua, a liquor sector analyst with CIConsulting, attributed the lucrative performance to enlarged appetite for medium-class liquors and producers' improved marketing.

Kweichow Moutai's shares dived 2.06 percent in the morning session on Friday to reach 241 yuan per share, along with sagging stock indices of the country's A shares.