(Yicai Global) Aug. 30 -- Chow Tai Seng Jewellery Co. [SHE:002867] upped first-half revenue and profit by 20 percent on strong sales growth, but still lags behind competitor Lao Feng Xiang Co. [SHA:600612].

Revenue at the Shenzhen-listed firm grew 24 percent on the year to CNY1.67 billion (USD250 million), while net profit attributable to shareholders jumped 23 percent to CNY264 million (USD39 million).

The revenue growth was mainly thanks to an improved product range, innovative marketing and branding, integration of supply chains and management, Chow Tai's interim report said.

However, there was a big gap between Chow Tai's performance and that of leading Chinese jewelry maker Lao Feng Xiang. The latter's interim report, released on Aug. 28, show it had CNY22.9 billion (USD3.4 billion) in revenue and net profit of CNY583 million (USD87 million) over the same period.

Chow Tai engages in the design, promotion and chain operation of its branded jewelry. Its main products include diamond-embedded and gold jewelry. It is among the country's top three jewelry companies by market share, according to the Gems & Jewelry Trade Association of China, and its brand is worth CNY30.2 billion.

As of the end of the reporting period, the company had 2,505 stores, of which 288 were self-owned and 2,217 were franchised.