5 June 2009 - Leading Chinese dairy firm Mengniu is expected to register a net profit between RMB 700 million and RMB 800 million (USD 102-117 million) this year thanks to fast recovering sales and the growth in the country's consumption of liquid dairy products.
Mengniu's sales are back to around 70% of the level seen before the tainted milk crisis, company vice president Liu Weixing told reporters.
The Hong Kong-listed dairy producer recorded a net loss of RMB 948.6 million (about USD 139 million) in 2008 mainly caused by the milk scandal affecting the Chinese dairy industry in H2. However, the group's revenue increased by 11.9% to RMB 23.865 billion.
Mengniu's production capacity reached 5.57 million tons in 2008.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics of China, the company ranked first in China in terms of overall sales volume. It also ranked first in terms of sales volume, in the sectors of liquid milk, yogurt and ice cream.
