Qingdao Haier Co., the air- conditioner and refrigerator unit of China’s biggest appliance maker, rose to a record on the Shanghai stock exchange after the company posted a 37 percent increase in first-half profit.
The company’s shares gained 6.4 percent to 22.35 yuan as of the midday break, headed for the stock’s highest close since Qingdao Haier listed in 1993. First-half profit rose to 363.8 million yuan ($48 million) from a restated 265.7 million yuan, the company said.
Qingdao Haier’s stock has more than doubled this year as rising incomes in China, the world’s fastest-growing major economy, have fueled a surge in consumer demand for home appliances. China’s retail spending in July surged 16.4 percent from a year earlier, the biggest increase in more than three years.
First-half sales rose 30 percent to 17.1 billion yuan from a year earlier. Revenue from outside China, where Qingdao Haier sells products at the outlets of Wal-Mart Stories Inc. and Best Buy Co., rose 37 percent to 3.7 billion yuan. Domestic sales rose 28 percent to 13.4 billion, the company said.
The company is a unit of Haier Group Corp., also based in the city of Qingdao.
