(Yicai Global) April 27 -- Kweichow Moutai’s stock price climbed after China’s leading liquor maker said first-quarter profit soared 24 percent from a year earlier to a record quarterly high, spurred by direct sales.

Shares of Kweichow Moutai [SHA: 600519] closed 3.6 percent higher today at CNY1,794.92 (USD273.74) apiece, after earlier climbing as much as 4.5 percent. The wider Shanghai market added 2.5 percent.

Net profit was CNY17.2 billion (USD2.6 billion) in the three months ended March 31, the Guizhou-based company said in an earnings report published yesterday. Its own forecast had been for CNY16.6 billion.

Revenue rose 18 percent to CNY32.2 billion (USD4.9 billion), buoyed by a 128 percent leap in direct sales through its own channels, which contributed CNY10.9 billion to the total. Wholesale takings, that from products sold through group dealers, shopping malls, supermarkets, and other e-commerce channels, fell 4.7 percent to CNY21.4 billion.

Direct sales revenue surged to about CNY24 billion last year from about CNY4.4 billion (USD667.3 million) in 2018, with the number of dealers falling to 2,089 from 2,987 in the period.

Kweichow Moutai is likely to further shed dealers and hike investment in direct sales to boost profit growth, according to a research report from Huafu Securities. The distiller will continue to expand direct sales on self-run platforms and official stores on e-commerce platforms, shopping malls, and supermarkets, as well as corporate group buying, the brokerage added, noting that the firm is expected to achieve significant growth this year.

On March 27, Kweichow Moutai launched a new direct-sales platform, iMoutai, offering its signature tipple at CNY3,599 (USD567) a bottle, 20 percent less than charged by third-party dealers. The app became the most downloaded on Apple’s App Store on March 28, with over 430,000 downloads.

Editor: Futura Costaglione