China liquor giant tumbles as state media questions share

Shares in the world's most valuable distiller, China's Kweichow Moutai, tumbled four per cent today after state media questioned whether the index heavyweight's skyrocketing stock price had risen too much, posing a risk to the overall market.
Kweichow Moutai, which makes "baijiu", a fiery grain alcohol popular in China, has seen its share price double this year on good earnings and bullish market sentiment.
Shares climbed more than four percent on Thursday to a record high close of 719.11 yuan, giving the firm a market capitalisation of more than 900 billion yuan, making it China's eighth most valuable listed company.

But they fell as much as 5.7 per cent today, closing 4.01 per cent lower at 690.25 yuan, after state mouthpiece Xinhua news agency published a piece saying the company's soaring stock price was not justified by its earnings.
"It is as if Moutai is not selling liquor, but golden water," said the Xinhua article, a rare case of an individual company being singled out by state media.
The report, issued yesterday, blamed "shortsighted speculation" for the stock's rise.
Moutai broadly concurred in a statement to the Shanghai stock exchange today that likely added to the shares' fall.