Tsingtao Brewery Co, China's largest beer maker by revenue, said its first-quarter net profit rose 8.7 percent from the same period last year on higher beer sales.

The company said its first-quarter net profit was 74.91 million Chinese yuan (US$9.35 million), up from 68.92 million yuan the year before. Tsingtao said its first-quarter revenue was 2.39 billion yuan, up from 2.03 billion yuan a year earlier. The company said its sales of beer in the first quarter rose 15 percent to 8.69 million hectoliters from the year before.

Tsingtao was listed in July 1993. Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc., the U.S. beer maker, is one of the largest shareholders in Tsingtao.

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