Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holding Corp. (322), the maker of “Master Kong”-branded instant noodles and beverages, reported a 24 percent increase in first-half profit on falling raw material costs. The stock rose.

Net income rose to $284.4 million in the six months ended in June from $229 million a year earlier, the company said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange. That beat the $275.8 million average of five analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Revenue climbed 9.5 percent to $4.53 billion.

Tingyi is using its 57 percent of the Chinese instant noodle market to capture rising consumer demand for premium foods with higher profit margins, according to analysts at BOCOM International Holdings Co. Ltd. The foodmaker announced last November a tie-up with PepsiCo Inc. (PEP) under which a Tingyi unit became the franchise bottler of its drinks in China.

“Riding on its massive distribution complex, extensive food and beverage collection and expansive capacity, Tingyi should continue to shine,” said Summer Wang, a Hong Kong-based analyst at BOCOM, ahead of the earnings announcement.

Tingyi shares rose as much as 4.2 percent to HK$20.70 before trading at HK$20.50 at 1:08 p.m. local time. The benchmark Hang Seng index dropped 0.8 percent.

The beverage alliance is designed to boost PepsiCo’s market share in China where the Purchase, New York-based company was the fourth-largest soft-drink maker with 4.9 percent share last year. Coca-Cola and Tingyi led the China soft drink market with 15.8 percent and 13.1 percent share in 2011, respectively, data from London-based researcher Euromonitor International show.

Under the deal, PepsiCo will transfer equity interests in its bottling operations in China to Tingyi beverage subsidiary Tingyi-Asahi Beverages Holding Co. In exchange PepsiCo will receive a 5 percent stake in Tingyi-Asahi, with an option to increase that to 20 percent by October 2015.

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Note: Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holding Corporation is the largest instant noodle producer and Taiwanese enterprise in China. It specialises in the production and distribution of instant noodles, beverages, baked goods and soft drinks with its brand name, Master Kong