Sep. 2, 2011 (China Knowledge) - Chinese liquor giant Wuliangye Yibin Co Ltd<000858> announced Wednesday that it plans to hike its liquor ex-factory prices by between 20% and 30% from Sep. 10.

The company said in a statement filed with the Shenzhen Stock Exchange that the price increase will have a positive impact on its earnings for 2011.

At the end of 2010, Kweichow Moutai Co Ltd<600519>, China's largest producer of spirits by market value, raised its ex-factory prices by 20%.

Analysts said that Kweichow Moutai is likely to increase its prices by between 10% and 15% at the end of this year.

Wuliangye Yibin posted RMB 3.49 billion-net profit for the first half of this year, reflecting a year-on-year jump of 48.98%. The firm's operating revenue for the first half surged 39.84% year on year to RMB 10.6 billion.

Sales of the high-end Wuliangye-branded liquor welled 36.73% from a year earlier, while the revenue derived from medium and low-end products increased 46.74% year on year.