BEIJING - China Duty Free Group Co Ltd, a State-owned enterprise operating duty-free business, expects its profits to surge in the first half of the year, the company said in a statement filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Net profit attributable to equity shareholders is estimated to reach 5.44 billion yuan ($842 million) for the first half of 2021, almost five times the figure compared with the same period last year, according to the statement.

Operating revenue jumped by 83.85 percent year-on-year to 35.5 billion yuan during the period, the statement added.

The company has attributed the robust growth to China's effective control of the COVID-19 epidemic, the introduction of new offshore duty-free policies, as well as the low-base factor last year.