CHINA: Tsingtao unveils strong H1 results, to continue investment in expansion

Tsingtao Brewery, China's second-largest brewer by volume, has reported a strong jump in first-half profit, and said it will continue to invest on expanding its business, KamCity informed on August 16.

The group said that net profit for the first six months of the year jumped up 29.7% to 830m Yuan (US$122m), even as sales rose by 9.3% to 9.8bn Yuan (US$1.44bn). The company said that demand was boosted by increased sales of its premium beers.

Tsingtao added that it will continue to “actively look for” merger and acquisition opportunities in the second half to expand its share of the beer market. It also said it will invest 268m Yuan to expand its production capacity, and will also stick to its current marketing strategy.

Meanwhile, a report in the local media said that Tsingtao is in talks to buy 45% of Xihu beer, a joint venture between Asahi Breweries and Itochu Corp. The papers said the deal could be worth up to 2bn Yuan.

18 August, 2010