(Yicai) June 24 -- Rastar Group’s shares surged by their daily trading limit after the Chinese firm that owns Espanyol said the soccer club’s elevation to Spain’s first division will boost its finances.

The toymaker’s stock [SHE: 300043] soared 20 percent to close at CNY2.66 (37 US cents) in Shenzhen today.

Espanyol won the playoffs and will join La Liga next season, with the promotion expected to bring revenue of at least EUR43.7 million (USD46.8 million) from television broadcasting rights, Guangzhou-based Rastar said today.

That will increase Espanyol’s income from TV rights and positively affect Rastar’s future business performance to some extent, the firm noted. Soccer clubs in La Liga can earn nine times more revenue from TV rights than those in La Liga 2, it previously told the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

Rastar bough 99.6 percent of Espanyol in 2015, when the club was in La Liga. It was relegated to La Liga 2 in 2020, promoted to La Liga in 2022, but demoted again last year.

At CNY789 million (USD109 million), the soccer business accounted for 46 percent of Rastar’s revenue last year, but the segment lost CNY33.8 million (USD4.7 million) because its reduced income from TV rights failed to cover outlays such as player salaries.