(Yicai Global) July 12 -- Suning's profit likely slid between 62 and 65 percent in the first half as its convenience store brand Suning Xiaodian continued to lose money and because it booked a huge one-off gain from selling shares in Alibaba in the same period a year earlier. The company's shares rose.

The retail giant expects net profit of between CNY2.1 billion (USD305.3 million) and CNY2.3 billion for the six month through June, the Nanjing-based company said today in a filing to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

In May last year, Suning said it had sold another part of its stake in tech titan Alibaba Group Holding, turning a profit of about CNY5.6 billion (USD814 million) that helped the firm post a more than 20-fold increase in net income to almost CNY6 billion in the first half of 2018.

Suning's shares [SHE:002024] rose 1.5 percent today to close at CNY10.61 (USD1.54) each. The benchmark Shenzhen Component Index gained 0.7 percent.

To raise cash to finance the rapid expansion of its Xiaodian mini store chain, Suning secured CNY3.4 billion last month through the sale of equity in its subsidiary Suning Smart Life Holding. Suning Xiaodian has expanded to around 6,000 outlets and is the firm's entry point to small-scale community stores.

Suning said it is fully committed to providing comprehensive retail services online and offline. Earlier this year it bought Wanda Department Store and Carrefour China to strengthen operations and boost its presence in the fast-moving consumer goods sector. As of the end of last month it had 15,000 self-operated and franchise stores.

Suning has sped up the development of community and rural markets, further improved the professional operation abilities of its non-electrical products, and accelerated the construction of logistical infrastructure and enhanced user experiences, it said in today's filing.