(Yicai Global) Jan. 15 -- Muyuan Foodstuff, China's largest pig breeder by market value, expects its 2019 net profit to have multiplied by over 10 times from a year earlier due to rising pork prices. 

Muyuan's net profit should reach a point between CNY6 billion and CNY6.4 billion (up to USD928.6 million), the Henan province-based company said in its earnings forecast released yesterday.

Amid African swine fever outbreaks, pork supply was tight, which resulted in price hikes, the firm explained. 

Muyuan made a U-turn in its profitability in the third quarter after the deadly virus had caused a dent in its balance sheet in the first half of the year. 

Muyuan's shares [SHE: 002714] rose 1.64 percent to CNY92.30 (USD13.38) this morning. Its market cap was CNY197.6 billion (USD28.6 billion).

Founded in 1992, Muyuan has surpassed Wens Foodstuffs Group as China's most valuable pork producer. Its founder Qin Yinglin's family rose to the top 10 in the Forbes China Rich List for the first time last year, surpassing ByteDance's Zhang Yiming, Dalian Wanda Group's Wang Jianlin, and JD.Com's Richard Liu.

Editor: Emmi Laine