Wuliangye spirits at a store in Chongqing. (Photo/Xinhua)

Top Chinese liquor brand Wuliangye Yibin Co has seen its half-year net profits rise 50.15% year-on-year.

The liquor maker, headquartered in Yibin in southwest China's Sichuan province, said in its half-year performance report to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange that profits were 5.241 billion yuan (US$825.64 million). They were 3.05 billion yuan (US$479 million) in the first quarter of the year.

Meanwhile, earnings per share went up 50% compared with same period last year to 1.329 yuan (US$0.209), according to the report.

The company attributed its profit surge to strong sales of its major liquor brands.

In the first six months, revenues jumped 42.5% to 15.05 billion yuan (US$2.36 billion) compared with the same six-month period in 2011.

Liu Dongwei, analyst from the Dongxing Securities, said that major Wuliangye liquor products, which sell for between 700 yuan (US$110) and 800 yuan (US$126) a bottle, are not considered "luxury" items, since they costs less than 1,000 yuan (US$157) per bottle.

The stocks of the firm edged up 2.02% to close at 34.85 yuan (US$5.48) per share on Monday.