(Yicai Global) Jan. 9 -- Net profit attributable to shareholders in China's largest livestock and poultry breeder, Guangdong Wen's Foodstuffs Group Co., was CNY6.6 billion (USD1 billion) to CNY7 billion during the reporting period, down 41 percent to 44 percent over the same period the year before, the company said yesterday in announcing its annual results for last year.

Net profit in the same period of 2016 was CNY12 billion. The market for live poultry products continued sluggish in the first half of the reporting period, slamming the company's chicken segment, whose prices fell 30 percent from the same period last year as poultry plummeted from profit to loss, Wen's explained.

The company's pork husbandry business continued its steady growth during the period. Sales of its pork rose 11 percent annually, and average weight increased by 7.31 catties (8 pounds) per hog. Changes in market supply and demand pushed sales prices down 19 percent, however, with profitability falling year by year.

Founded in 1983 and based in Yunfu in China's southeastern Guangdong province, Wen's Foodstuffs Group Co. [SHE:300498] is a cross-regional, modern farming enterprise group that focuses on livestock breeding and related businesses. The company listed on Nov. 2, 2015. Wen's has a total market cap of CNY140.7 billion, the highest on the Growth Enterprise Market.