(Yicai Global) Oct. 16 -- Shares in Chinese distiller Kweichow Moutai retreated this morning after touching an all-time high yesterday afternoon on the back of a stellar report for its first three quarters.

Its share price [SHA:600519] was down nearly 3.4 percent at CNY1,170.03 (USD165.18) as of 10.21 a.m. That followed a peak of CNY1,215.68 yesterday, when Moutai's market cap touched CNY1.5 trillion (USD212 billion) to give it the third-largest among all companies listed on the Chinese mainland.

The Guizhou-based company earned CNY30.5 billion (USD4.3 billion) in net profit during the first nine months, up 23 percent as revenue climbed 16.6 percent to CNY61 billion, it said in its financial report published yesterday. It attributed to the success to sales of its renowned Moutai liquor, which contributed CNY53.8 billion to overall revenue despite the firm cutting 586 domestic distributors to leave it with 2,401.

The firm began partnerships with China Resources Vanguard, RT-Mart International and Wumart Group in June, tying up with supermarkets in China for the first time and offering each a 400 ton quota of its Feitian Moutai Liquor. E-commerce platforms Tmall and Suning.Com also bagged deals to sell Moutai online last month.

E Fund Management Hong Kong and two other major shareholders sold a combined 9.7 million shares in Moutai during the third quarter, roughly 0.77 percent of the firm's equity.

Editor: James Boynton