ood and beverage maker Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holding Corp (0322.HK) said on Monday its first-half net profit rose 17.9 percent, helped by falling prices of raw materials and increased controls over operational costs.Hong Kong-listed Tingyi, owner of the Master Kong brand and a partner with PepsiCo Inc (PEP.N) in China, said profit for the six months ended June totaled $231.9 million, up from $196.7 million a year earlier.
The result lagged an average forecast of $236.1 million for the first half from three analysts polled by Reuters.
Tingyi saw net profit for the April-June quarter total $103.5 million, up from $91.8 million a year earlier, just below an average forecast of $107.7 million. Tingyi posted a 22.4 percent net profit rise in the first quarter.
Tingyi, which commands close to 40 percent of China's noodle market according to Euromonitor, said total turnover was $5.5 billion for the six-month period, up slightly from $5.42 billion a year ago. The firm competes with Uni-President China Holdings Ltd (0220.HK) and Want Want China Holdings Ltd (0151.HK).
Shares of Tingyi were down 0.9 percent just after midday (0400 GMT) on Monday, but have risen 1.8 percent so far this year. The benchmark Hang Seng Index .HSI has gained more than 6 percent over the same period.
