(Yicai Global) Aug. 2 -- Shares of Kedi Dairy, whose first-half cash balance was CNY1.8 billion (USD259.7 million), slumped after over 200 farmers met at its headquarters seeking CNY140 million (USD20.3 million) in salaries that have not been paid in more than a year. 

The company's stock price [SHE:002770] fell 4.9 percent to end the week at CNY3.10 (45 US cents). The benchmark Shenzhen Component Index lost 1.4 percent. The company's shares are still 11 percent up on the start of the year.

The angry farmers who gathered at Kedi Dairy's head office in Henan province did not catch a glimpse of Chairman Zhang Qinghai, China Business Journal reported. His daughter, who is not a shareholder, said that the parent company is facing financial pressures due to a tighter monetary policy and the sector's long cycle to turn a profit. 

But Kedi Dairy's preliminary first-half earnings report tells a different story. Net profit jumped 35 percent to more than CNY80 million from a year earlier, while its cash balance rose 5.9 percent to CNY1.8 billion. The overdue salaries represent 8 percent of that.

Editor: Emmi Laine