A jump in sales to supermarkets helped orange grower Asian Citrus squeeze out a big rise in profits in the year to 30 June.

Pre-tax profits rose to RMB1.121bn from RMB587.3m the previous year on revenues up to RMB 1.413bn from RMB 812.5m. The total dividend was raised by 25% to 1.4p.

The company supplied 68,480 tonnes of oranges to 20 supermarket chains, an increase of 20% from the previous year. It was also helped by its acquisition of juice maker BPG Food and Beverage, which was earnings accretive according to chairman Tony Tong.

"The outlook for fruit juice consumption in China looks very positive and the acquisition of Beihai BPG provides us with the techniques, processing capacity and distribution network for effective expansion into the concentrated juice market in the PRC," he said.

"The addition of new production capacity will strengthen the group's leading position in the juice concentrates market in China."

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