(Yicai) Aug. 29 -- Yili Industrial Group expects to record a modest gain in sales this year as China's dairy consumption is recovering after a post-Covid slump, the country's largest dairy company said.

From July to August, Yili's revenue from its liquid milk business climbed by around 5 percent from a year ago, and the second half is expected to be better than the first six months of this year, management of the Hohhot-based company said in a performance conference today. For the whole year, growth should be about 5 percent, they added.

Since July, liquid milk has been in high demand again, per Zhao Lin, general manager of investor relations. Such business still declined in the first half from a year ago, she added. Moreover, a multi-year slowdown in the firm's milk powder business is also showing signs of bottoming out. 

In the first half, net profit rose almost 3 percent to CNY6.3 billion (USD864.1 million) and revenue increased by 4 percent to CNY66.2 billion (USD9.1 billion), mainly thanks to the sales of baby formula and ice cream as both segments logged double-digit growth, per an interim report released yesterday. 

The meager improvement was related to weak macroeconomic conditions in China and a high base effect from last year, per Zhao.

Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, consumers bought more milk products. In 2021, Yili boosted its total revenue by 19 percent and in the first half of 2022, the corresponding year-over-year growth was 12 percent.

Yili’s shares [SHA: 600887] closed 0.8 percent down at CNY26.62 (USD3.70).