From msn money

HONG KONG, Aug 26 (Reuters) – China’s largest instant noodle maker Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holding Corp said on Monday its first-half net profit fell 31.4 percent due to increasing spending on advertising and slowing demand for noodles and beverages in China.

Hong Kong-listed Tingyi, owner of the Master Kong brand and a partner with PepsiCo Inc in China, said profit for the six months ended June totalled $196.7 million, down from a restated $286.7 million a year earlier.

The result lagged an average forecast of $213 million for the first half from five analysts polled by Thomson Reuters

Tingyi, which posted a 47 percent fall in profit to $104.9 million for the quarter ended March, saw profit for the April-June quarter total $91.8 million, up from $87.2 million a year earlier, and down from an average forecast of $108 million, according to Reuters calculations.

Tingyi, which commands just over half of China’s $8.8 billion instant noodle market, competes with Uni-President China Holdings Ltd and Want Want China Holdings Ltd, said total turnover was $5.42 billion for the six-month period, up from $4.53 billion a year ago.

Shares of Tingyi have fallen more than 11 percent this year, lagging a 2.6 percent fall in the benchmark Hang Seng Index.

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