BEIJING, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese milk producer Mengniu Dairy Co. saw its profit go up 14 percent in the first half of the year despite a fall in sales revenue, China Daily reported Wednesday.

    The rise indicated that the company has recovered from most of the problems associated with last year's melamine scandal, the newspaper said.

    Mengniu's net profit during the first half of the year stood at 661.9 million yuan (94.6 million U.S. dollars), or 0.424 yuan per share, compared with 582.9 million yuan, or 0.409 yuan per share, from a year earlier. Sales revenue for the period fell by 11.7 percent to 12.1 billion yuan.

    In the aftermath of the melamine scandal, Mengniu had reported losses of 949 million yuan for 2008.

    Last September, about 22 dairy firms including Mengniu and Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group were found to have sold dairy products containing melamine, which in high doses lead to kidney stone formation.

    Except for Sanyuan, all other listed dairy companies including Mengniu, Yili and Bright Dairy slipped into the red in 2008.

    But this year most of the firms have bounced back by reporting healthy first half earnings numbers.

    Mengniu has also managed to outperform its peer Yili with higher profits. Yili reported a 118-percent increase in first-half profit at 254 million yuan.

    According to AC Nielsen statistics, Mengniu leads the Chinese liquid milk market, although it lags behind Yili as the second largest dairy producer by sales volume.