Nine Dragons Paper profit beats, sales volume hits record

Nine Dragons Paper (2689) posted a better-than-expected net profit in the year ended June as sales volume hit a new high. 

The papermaker grew its profit by 135 percent to 1.77 billion yuan (HK$1.93 billion) in the period, far more than market estimates of HK$1.38 billion yuan. 

However, it did not declare any dividend, the same as a year earlier. 

Sales volume increased by nearly 10 percent to a record 21.5 million tonnes, leading to a 6.3 percent rise in revenue to 63.2 billion yuan. 

Gross profit soared by 27 percent to 7.23 billion yuan, with the margin rising by 1.9 percentage points to 11.5 percent.

Looking forward, the company said it will exercise stringent control over production costs, deepen lean management and increase the proportion of high value-added products, maintaining sustainable supply of exemplary quality paper that embodies its characteristics.