China's Supor 2007 profit surges 73 percent

SHANGHAI, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Zhejiang Supor Cookware Co (002032.SZ), one of the country's biggest cookware makers, said on Monday its 2007 net profit jumped 73 percent because of rising sales and lower operating costs.

Supor, controlled by French cookware manufacturer SEB (SEBF.PA), said net profit reached 160.6 million yuan ($22.4 million), up from 93.0 million yuan in 2006. Sales climbed 40 percent to 2.94 billion yuan.

The company, making a brief preliminary statement on its earnings, attributed the higher profit to expanding sales, its use of money obtained from SEB to supplement operating funds and reduce interest on bank loans, and a further cut in financing costs through its use of foreign exchange forward contracts to hedge against appreciation of the yuan. ($1=7.18 Yuan) (Reporting by Rujun Shen, editing by Ken Wills)