China foodmaker Tingyi Q1 net profit up 22%

Tingyi Cayman Islands Holding Corp, China's largest food and beverage maker by sales, reported a 22.4 percent rise in first-quarter net profit as lower input prices helped drive growth in instant noodle and beverage sales.

Tingyi 2013 net profit down 10.9%

Net profit rose to $128.4 million from $104.9 million a year earlier, the Taiwan-based company said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Monday.

Tingyi, which has a broad-ranging partnership with PepsiCo Inc and sells noodles under the Master Kong brand in China, saw 2013 net profits fall 10.9 percent.

It faces strong competition from rival Want Want China Holdings Ltd, which saw net profits rise 24.1 percent last year.

Tingyi, which also competes with smaller rival Uni-President China Holdings Ltd, said revenue for the first quarter was $2.8 billion, up 5 percent from $2.6 billion a year ago.

This was driven by robust growth in revenues from the instant noodles and the beverage segments, while snack sales fell 7.29 percent.

Shares of Tingyi, which were up 0.7 percent around midday, have fallen 1.79 percent so far this year. The benchmark Hang Seng Index has lost 2.91 percent during the same period.