(Yicai Global) July 31 -- Shares of Haidilao International Holding climbed after the Chinese hotpot chain said it expects net profit to have surged nearly 3,000 percent in the first half of the year.

Haidilao [HKG: 6862] finished up 12.2 percent at HKD21.85 (USD2.80) a share in Hong Kong today.

Net profit was likely CNY2.2 billion (USD308 million) in the six months ended June 30, versus CNY72 million (USD10.1 million) a year earlier, the Beijing-based company said yesterday. Revenue is expected to have risen at least 24 percent to CNY18.8 billion (USD2.6 billion).

Haidilao put the profit surge down mainly to a higher table turnover rate, improvements in internal management and operations, and the upturn in consumption following the Covid-19 pandemic.

Since 2021, Haidilao has taken steps to weather the pandemic, including closing 300 underperforming stores. It also spun off Super Hi International Holding, a loss-making overseas business unit, for an independent listing in Hong Kong last December, thereby removing it from its financial report.

Thanks to these steps, Haidilao returned to a CNY1.4 billion profit last year. Annual revenue fell 15.5 percent to CNY34.7 billion. As of the end of December, Haidilao had 1,349 restaurants in the Chinese mainland and 22 in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.

Editor: Futura Costaglione