Zhongpin Inc. shares nudged higher this morning, lifted by the overall market. The China-based meat and food processing company last month announced that its board of directors authorized an increase in the share buyback program of 30 million of its outstanding shares over the next 12 months.
Under a share buyback program, which came into effect last month, the company has authorized to buyback up to $40 million of its issued and outstanding shares of common stock from time to time. Xianfu Zhu, chairman and CEO of Zhongpin, said last month that the company has strong confidence in its growth prospects as the Chinese economy continues to grow and its industry consolidates further.
Zhongpin also released its second-quarter financial results last month. The company reported a 70% increase in second-quarter revenue to $366.5 million. The company’s gross margin for the second quarter of 2011 was 10.7%, compared with 11.8% reported in the same period in the previous year. The company reported net income of $19.3 million for the second quarter, up 56% over the same period in the previous year.
Zhongpin shares fell 12.11% since the release of second-quarter financial results last month. Year-to-date, the stock is down 60.32%.
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