(Yicai Global) Feb. 28 -- Shares in Hotgen Biotech surged as much as 17.8 percent today after the Chinese Covid-19 detection set manufacturer reported a close to 20-time jump in profit last year.

Hotgen Biotech’s share price [SHA:688068] was trading up 15.78 percent at CNY175.79 (USD27.80) as of 1:30 p.m. China time today, giving it a market valuation of CNY10.9 billion (USD1.7 billion). Earlier in the day it had hit CNY178.16.

Hotgen Biotech raked in CNY2.2 billion (USD348.6 million) in net profit in 2021, according to the Beijing-based company’s latest earnings report. Revenue jumped 9.5-fold year on year to CNY5.4 billion.

Hotgen Biotech, whose self-test products have been approved in the European Union and the UK, saw a big jump in overseas orders last year, it said.

As the Omicron variant continues to spread, Covid-19 test products are only going to get more popular in the US, Europe and other major markets, analysts said.

Editor: Kim Taylor