Dairy giant Yili's revenue likely to top RMB90 billion in 2019

          Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Co., Ltd. (600887.SH), one of the world's leading dairy producers, is expected to see revenue surpass 90 billion yuan by the end of 2019.

          According to a report released recently by the company, its revenue reached 23.13 billion yuan (about 3.4 billion U.S. dollars) in the first quarter of 2019, up 17.1 percent year on year, with net profits of 2.28 billion yuan. Based on the data, analysts believe that the group, after registering revenue of 79.6 billion yuan in 2018, is likely to see a much higher growth in the total year of 2019.

          Yili has steadily increased its market share to 25.6 percent in China, with a market penetration rate of 64.3 percent, much higher than the industry average, according to the consumer index statistics from Kantar Worldpanel.

          Pan Gang, chairman of the Board and President of the group, attributed the sustained high growth performance to its strategy of healthy ecosystem construction. Not restricted to the dairy industry, Yili has become a leading multi-category organic products distributor in the health food field, determined to promote healthy lifestyles with new values by integrating global resources of industry, market and innovation.

          In March, the group signed a conditional agreement with New Zealand's Westland Co-operative Dairy Company limited, which enables the former to purchase 100 percent the shares of Westland's existing shareholders and take over operation of the company.

          Analysts at Great Wall Securities said that the acquisition will enable Yili to master high-quality, stable New Zealand milk sources, thus further enhancing Yili's core competitiveness. In addition, Westland's broad product range, including milk protein products and butter products, will help Yili further expand its new businesses.

          Yili has built a global resource network covering developed dairy regions in Asia, Europe, America and Oceania, and has owned more than 20 sub-brands, among which, 3 brands have annual sales income of over 10 billion yuan, and 11 brands of more than 1 billion yuan.