BEIJING -- Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Rare-Earth Hi-Tech Co, the country's leading rare earth producer, said Monday that its half-year net profit jumped 458.51 percent from a year earlier on a wave of soaring prices of rare earth products.

Its net profit totaled 1.976 billion yuan ($307 million) in the first half of this year, the company said in a statement filed to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Earnings per share were 1.632 yuan in the first half, compared with 0.292 yuan in the same period last year, according to the statement.

Revenue reached 5.979 billion yuan, up 156.81 percent year-on-year, the statement said.

The company said prices of rare earth metals increased significantly in the first half of the year, which led to a surge in profits.

It expects a drastic increase in net profits for the first three quarters, according to the statement.

Shares of the company fell 4.19 percent to 61.29 yuan on Monday. The decline outpaced the 3.79 plunge of the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index in wake of the US credit rating downgrade.