(Yicai) April 23 -- Shares of Xinjiang Western Animal Husbandry jumped after the Chinese dairy company said it returned to the black in the first quarter following multi-year losses.

The shares [SHE: 300106] closed almost 12 percent higher at CNY10.63 (USD1.56) each in Shenzhen today.

Net profit was CNY4.96 million (USD726,795) in the three months ended March 31, the latest earnings report from the firm, which is headquartered in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, showed late yesterday. Operating revenue climbed 29 percent to CNY241 million (USD35.3 million).

Western Animal Husbandry credited an increase in market share for its dairy products along with lower costs, better efficiency, and optimized formula in its feed processing business for the improvement in its earnings.

The company also revealed that six overseas investors are now among its 10 top shareholders, having bought into the company via the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors scheme.

At the end of the first quarter, JPMorgan Chase, Barclays Bank, UBS Group, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs were the second, third, fourth, sixth, seventh and 10th largest shareholders, respectively.

For the year ended Dec. 31, the company’s net loss shrank 57 percent to CNY50.7 million on revenue of CNY925 million. It has stepped up efforts to boost sales via e-commerce platforms and direct sales channels in supermarkets, tripling direct sales revenue to CNY137 million. This year, the firm will focus on developing light cream and functional milk powder, it said.

Editor: Tom Litting