Higher sales of soy sauce and special condiments, as well as operational efficiency driven by R&D and AI, drove Foshan Haitian Flavouring and Food's (SHA:603288, HKG:3288) attributable profit upward in the first half.

The condiment maker's attributable profit jumped 7.1% year over year to 4.19 billion yuan in the first half from 3.91 billion yuan in the year-ago period, according to its earnings report filed Wednesday with the Hong Kong bourse. Earnings per share jumped to 0.72 yuan from 0.70 yuan.

Revenue edged up 6% to 16.1 billion yuan from 15.2 billion yuan in the prior-year period, with soy sauce, oyster sauce, and flavored sauces taking up 77% of the total.

Soy sauce revenue contributed 51% of the top line, increasing 4.6% to about 8.30 billion yuan from 7.93 billion yuan a year earlier, driven by product upgrades targeting its health-conscious and high-end lines, as well as a diversified portfolio for the food and catering industry.

Specialty condiments surged the fastest by about 14% to 2.84 billion yuan, while oyster sauce revenue jumped 2.6% to 2.57 billion yuan.

Gross profit margin improved by 0.92 percentage points year over year to 41.04%. The company attributed the margin expansion to increased investments in R&D and AI, process optimization, intelligent manufacturing, and lean management. Its "Lighthouse Factory" in Gaoming uses AI-powered image recognition for quality control and packaging operations.

Looking forward, Foshan Haitian said it will continue benchmarking its "Lighthouse Factory" to integrate AI across its production lines and expand its overseas footprint.

The company's Hong Kong shares slipped 9% while its Shanghai-listed shares fell 5% before midday Thursday.