Chinese liquor maker shares surge to new high on strong profit growth

BEIJING — Shares in Kweichow Moutai, China's top liquor brand, surged to a new high Thursday morning after the company reported better-than-expected profit growth.

The company filed its unaudited third-quarter report with the Shanghai Stock Exchange Thursday, saying its net profit attributable to shareholders had surged 60.31 percent to 19.98 billion yuan (about $3 billion) in the first three quarters.

Its revenue rose 59.4 percent to 42.45 billion yuan in the first nine months driven by strong sales. Interest earnings soared by 126.09 percent in the same period to more than 2 billion yuan, the report said.

The company shares rose 6.95 percent at Thursday's opening to 605 yuan per share, exceeding the 600-yuan mark for the first time in its history. The price stood at 600 yuan at the end of morning trading, touching as high as 613 yuan in the morning.

Kweichow Moutai currently has the highest stock price on China's A-share market, much higher than the runner-up, which traded at near 210 yuan per share Thursday.

China International Capital Corporation (CICC) raised its forecast for the company's target price to 845 yuan on strong Q3 performance. HSBC raised its forecast to 720 yuan.

However, the current price is not the highest in the history of China's stock market.

The former Shanghai Feilo reached a high of 3,550 yuan per share on May 25, 1992, and closed at 3,275 yuan on the same day. The company's name was changed to China Security & Fire Company in 2015 and currently has a price less than 7 yuan per share.