HONG KONG, March 28 Reuters) - China Mengniu Dairy Co Ltd said it returned to profit in 2017, helped by low raw milk prices, tighter control over costs and expenses, and solid sales growth for its milk and yogurt products. China’s biggest manufacturer said late on Tuesday annual net profit came in at 2.05 billion yuan ($326.5 million), compared with a loss of 751 million yuan in the prior year when its unit Yashili International Holdings booked a heavy impairment loss on its goodwill. The result missed a Thomson Reuters StarMine Smart Estimate of 2.3 billion yuan drawn from 26 analysts. Smart Estimates give greater weighting to more accurate analysts. Revenue rose 11.9 percent to 60.16 billion yuan. Gross profit margin increased 2.4 percentage points from a year ago to 35.2 percent amid relatively low raw milk prices and an improving product mix. Mengniu is stepping up development and sales of premium products that are gaining favour with Chinese consumers and is working with partners like Danone Group and Arla Foods to bring more dairy goods to China. $1 = 6.2781 Chinese yuan renminbi Reporting by Donny Kwok; Editing by Edwina Gibbs and Stephen Coates
China Mengniu Dairy returned to black in last year's due to low raw milk prices, better control over expenses, and solid sales growth of it's dairy products, which include milk and yoghurt. Net profit for 2017 was reported at CNY2.1bn ( $326.5m ) in comparison to last year's loss of CNY751m , and revenue grew by 35.2 percent to CNY60.2bn. The dairy company is increasing development and sales of premium products and working to bring more dairy goods to the country with companies such as Danone Group and CNY2.1bn .