Disclosure Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
The statements contained in this report with respect to our financial condition, results of operations and business that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, such as "anticipate", "believe", "expect", "plan", "intend", "seek", "estimate", "project", "could", "may" or the negative thereof or other variations thereon, or by discussions of strategy that involve risks and uncertainties. Management wishes to caution the readers of the forward-looking statements that any such statements that are contained in this report reflect our current beliefs with respect to future events and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, including, but not limited to, economic, competitive, regulatory, technological, key employees, and general business factors affecting our operations, markets, growth, services, products, licenses and other factors, some of which are described in this report and in “Risk Factors” in Item 1A of our Annual Report on Form 10-K/A for the year ended December 31, 2010 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and some of which are discussed in our other filings with the SEC. These risk factors should be considered in connection with any subsequent written or oral forward-looking statements that we or persons acting on our behalf may issue.
These forward-looking statements are only estimates or predictions. No assurances can be given regarding the achievement of future results, as actual results may differ materially as a result of risks facing our company, and actual events may differ from the assumptions underlying the statements that have been made regarding anticipated events. All written and oral forward looking statements made in connection with this report that are attributable to our company or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. Given these uncertainties, we caution investors not to unduly rely on our forward-looking statements. We do not undertake any obligation to review or confirm analysts’ expectations or estimates or to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this report or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by applicable law or regulation.
Business Overview
We are principally engaged in the development, manufacture, packaging, marketing and distribution of generic and branded pharmaceutical products for a wide range of high incidence and high mortality conditions in The People’s Republic of China (the “PRC”). All of our operations are conducted in the PRC, where our 8,000-square-meter manufacturing facility is located. With eight different production lines, we have the capability to manufacture pharmaceutical products in the form of dry powder injectables, liquid injectables, tablets, capsules, oral solutions and granules. Over 90% of our pharmaceutical products are sold on a prescription basis and have been approved for at least one or more therapeutic indications by the Chinese State Food and Drug Administration (the “SFDA”) based upon demonstrated safety and efficacy.
At September 30, 2011, we manufactured 20 pharmaceutical products for a wide variety of diseases and medical indications, each of which may be classified into one of three general categories: a basic generic drug, which is a common drug in the PRC marketplace for which there is a very large market, a “super” or “first to market” generic drug, which is a generic Western drug that is new to the PRC marketplace, and a modern Traditional Chinese Medicine, which generally is a non-synthetic, plant-based medicinal compound of the type that has been widely used in the PRC for thousands of years, to which we apply modern production techniques to produce a pharmaceutical product in different formulations, such as tablets, capsules or powders. In selecting generic drugs to develop and manufacture, we consider several factors, including the number of other manufacturers currently producing the particular drug, the size of the market, the proposed or required method of distribution, the existing and expected pricing for the particular drug in the marketplace, the costs of manufacturing that drug, and the costs of acquiring or developing the formula for that drug. We believe we have historically selected to manufacture generic drugs that have very large addressable markets and higher profit margins relative to other drugs being manufactured and distributed in the PRC.
In 2002, we built, and we currently own and operate, an approximately 8,000-square-meter manufacturing facility in Haikou, Hainan Province that supports eight modern, scalable production lines. We implement quality control procedures in compliance with standards for Good Manufacturing Practice, or GMP standards, and applicable SFDA regulations to ensure consistent quality in our products.
We market and sell our products through 16 sales offices covering all major cities and provinces in China. To comply with applicable Chinese law relating to sales of prescription drugs to certain hospitals and clinics, we also use a distribution system comprised of approximately 1,250 independent regional distributors. We have grown significantly in recent years, with our net revenues increasing from $21.8 million in 2006 to $74.4 million in 2010, representing a compound annual growth rate, or CAGR, of 36% during this period. Our net revenues increased by $8.3 million, or by 16%, to $58.7 million in the first nine months of 2011 as compared to $50.4 million in the comparable period of 2010. Our net income increased from $8.6 million in 2006 to $23.4 million in 2010, representing a CAGR of 28% during this period. Our net income decreased by $3.4 million to $13.5 million in the first nine months of 2011 as compared to $16.9 million in the comparable period in 2010. The nine-month net income figures for both 2011 and 2010 contain the effect of derivative gains and the figure for 2011 also contains an amortization adjustment on our intangible assets.
We often have a seasonal pattern in our sales revenues throughout the year for a variety of reasons, including 1) the higher rates of occurrence of cerebral/cardio diseases and flu in the winter season and 2) Chinese New Year being in the first quarter. As a result, our fourth quarter revenues tend to be higher and our first quarter revenues tend to be lower.
We have a strong focus on bringing new and first-to-market generic medicines to market through the purchase of medical formulas from research institutions. As of September 30, 2011, in addition to our portfolio of 20 commercialized products, we had nine drugs at different stages of the SFDA registration process, including three that had passed SFDA technical analysis and entered clinical trials as follows:
· In the fourth quarter of 2010, we completed the clinical trial for Rosuvastatin, a generic form of Crestor, a drug for indication of high blood cholesterol level, and we have since submitted an application for production approval.
· During the third quarter of 2010, we completed the Phase I clinical trials of our novel cephalosporin-based combination antibiotic. In Phase I, the clinical trials focused on the study of clinical pharmacology as well as the evaluation of safety on the human body, through observing tolerance and pharmacokinetics to provide support for dosage and drug delivery design. We are currently in Phase II of the clinical trial.
· In 2010, we completed the clinical trials for Candesartan, a front-line drug therapy for the treatment of hypertension. Since then, we have completed all testing procedures for this new product, and we are currently waiting for the final production approval from the SFDA.
In addition to the products mentioned above, we have several other products (also with focus on our main therapeutic areas) pending SFDA technical review and plan to initiate clinical trials in the near future. We are also evaluating additional opportunities on an on-going basis, directed by the organic growth and market demands of China's pharmaceutical market. We are working closely with several pharmaceutical research institutions and universities to help us identify existing drugs and formulas that would fit well with our business model, thus paving the way to generate new products to support our revenue growth in the future. We remain focused on improving our product portfolio and increasing our internal growth, maintaining and developing new marketing channels, and using our existing sales network in the expanding markets in the PRC to raise our overall market share. The organic growth of the Chinese pharmaceutical market has had a positive affect on, and will continue to direct, our company's development.
The growth of China’s pharmaceutical market has largely been driven by China’s rapid economic growth. Increased healthcare spending by the Chinese government to reform the healthcare system has already greatly improved the accessibility to and desire for medical care. Important additional factors include: the aging of the population and the resulting increase in age-related disorders, the urban migration of the population, and improved awareness of self-health care.
The Healthcare Reform program announced in 2009 by the Chinese government is currently being implemented. After the official announcement of the Essential Drugs List (“EDL”) in late 2009, we have seen meaningful and notable increases in demand for the EDL products and also degradation in the profit margins in these same products. As the Healthcare Reform progresses, the pace of implementation has varied significantly from province to province. The wide ranging timeliness of the government Healthcare reform funding is also causing volatility in the sales of certain products in different regions. As a result, the effect of the pricing regulation change also varied significantly from province to province. In overall, the pricing environment for most pharmaceutical products continues to be challenging at this time because of the Healthcare Reform implementation.
We believe the regulators in the PRC want to see prices of the essential drugs affordable on the one hand, but permit drug companies a fair profit on the other hand. We think we are well positioned in the current environment since our product portfolio is well diversified. Pricing or volume change of one single product should not have a material impact on our overall profitability. Furthermore, our management team has been operating in the Chinese pharmaceutical industry for more than 20 years, and we are very experienced at adapting to changes. We will seek to remain flexible with our product mix to achieve our profitability goals.
Results of Operations
The following table presents our results of operations for the three-month and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2011 and 2010:
|
|
Three Months Ended September 30th
|
|
|
Nine Months Ended September 30th
|
|
|
|
2011
|
|
|
2010
|
|
|
Change
|
|
|
% Chg
|
|
|
2011
|
|
|
2010
|
|
|
% Chg
|
|
Revenue
|
|
$ |
20,987,725 |
|
|
$ |
18,680,390 |
|
|
$ |
2,307,335 |
|
|
|
12 |
% |
|
$ |
58,708,134 |
|
|
$ |
50,414,254 |
|
|
|
16 |
% |
Cost of Revenue
|
|
|
13,472,804 |
|
|
|
11,055,254 |
|
|
|
2,417,550 |
|
|
|
22 |
% |
|
|
37,041,618 |
|
|
|
29,610,973 |
|
|
|
25 |
% |
Gross Profit
|
|
|
7,514,921 |
|
|
|
7,625,136 |
|
|
|
(110,215 |
) |
|
|
-1 |
% |
|
|
21,666,516 |
|
|
|
20,803,281 |
|
|
|
4 |
% |
Selling Expenses
|
|
|
1,006,815 |
|
|
|
449,295 |
|
|
|
557,520 |
|
|
|
124 |
% |
|
|
2,410,516 |
|
|
|
1,653,763 |
|
|
|
46 |
% |
General and Admin Expenses
|
|
|
2,687,376 |
|
|
|
873,157 |
|
|
|
1,814,219 |
|
|
|
208 |
% |
|
|
4,591,270 |
|
|
|
2,420,412 |
|
|
|
90 |
% |
Bad Debt Expense
|
|
|
(76,187 |
) |
|
|
107,186 |
|
|
|
(183,373 |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
(185,463 |
) |
|
|
215,707 |
|
|
|
|
|
Government Subsidy Income
|
|
|
968 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
968 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
146,415 |
|
|
|
465,663 |
|
|
|
|
|
Income from Operations
|
|
|
3,897,885 |
|
|
|
6,195,498 |
|
|
|
(2,297,613 |
) |
|
|
-37 |
% |
|
|
14,996,608 |
|
|
|
16,979,062 |
|
|
|
-12 |
% |
Net Interest Income (Expense)
|
|
|
(61,197 |
) |
|
|
(36,520 |
) |
|
|
(24,677 |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
(179,218 |
) |
|
|
(126,483 |
) |
|
|
|
|
Derivative Gain
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
429,687 |
|
|
|
(429,687 |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
934,260 |
|
|
|
1,795,196 |
|
|
|
|
|
Income Tax Expense
|
|
|
544,903 |
|
|
|
674,051 |
|
|
|
(129,148 |
) |
|
|
-19 |
% |
|
|
2,287,173 |
|
|
|
1,796,749 |
|
|
|
27 |
% |
Net Income
|
|
$ |
3,291,785 |
|
|
$ |
5,914,614 |
|
|
$ |
(2,622,829 |
) |
|
|
-44 |
% |
|
$ |
13,464,477 |
|
|
$ |
16,851,026 |
|
|
|
-20 |
% |
Basic Net Income per Share
|
|
$ |
0.08 |
|
|
$ |
0.14 |
|
|
$ |
(0.06 |
) |
|
|
-45 |
% |
|
$ |
0.31 |
|
|
$ |
0.39 |
|
|
|
-20 |
% |
Basic Weighted Average Shares Outstanding
|
|
|
43,529,557 |
|
|
|
43,393,642 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
43,463,165 |
|
|
|
43,306,075 |
|
|
|
|
|
Diluted Net Income per Share
|
|
$ |
0.08 |
|
|
$ |
0.14 |
|
|
$ |
(0.06 |
) |
|
|
-45 |
% |
|
$ |
0.31 |
|
|
$ |
0.39 |
|
|
|
-20 |
% |
Diluted Weighted Average Shares Outstanding
|
|
|
43,529,557 |
|
|
|
43,407,175 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
43,463,165 |
|
|
|
43,550,300 |
|
|
|
|
|
Three Months Ended September 30, 2011 and 2010
Revenue
For the three months ended September 30, 2011, our sales revenue increased by $2.3 million, or 12%, to $21.0 million from the $18.7 million we generated in the corresponding period of 2010.
Set forth below are our revenues by product category in millions USD for each of the three months ended September 30, 2011 and 2010:
Sales Revenue by Major Category (Dollars in Millions)
Product Category
|
Three Months Ended September 30
|
Net Change
|
% Change
|
|
2011
|
2010
|
|
|
CNS Cerebral & Cardio Vascular
|
$ 7.2
|
$ 5.9
|
$ 1.3
|
22%
|
Anti-Viro/ Infection & Respiratory
|
$ 8.2
|
$ 6.0
|
$ 2.2
|
38%
|
Digestive Diseases
|
$ 3.2
|
$ 2.4
|
$ 0.8
|
37%
|
Other
|
$ 2.3
|
$ 4.5
|
-$ 2.2
|
-48%
|
During the third quarter of fiscal 2011, our overall sales revenue grew by 12% on a year-over-year basis, led by the Anti-Viro Infection & Respiratory and also the Digestive Diseases categories. Sales in the Anti-Viro Infection & Respiratory category rose by 38% to $8.2 million from $6.0 million in the prior year period. Our performance in this category was impacted by outstanding sales growth of Cefaclor Dispersible Tablets and also Roxithromicyn. Both of these products are front-line antibiotics in hospitals. Our Cefaclor Dispersible Tablets are typical example of our differentiation strategy, which is especially popular in children and patients with swallowing issue. The “Digestive” category experienced an exciting growth of 37%, to $3.2 million from $2.4 million, mainly from Tiopronin, a drug prescribed for treatments of acute Hepatitis B and drug-induced liver damage. We have seen steady growth in the sales of Tiopronin since its introduction in mid-2009. Sales of CNS Cerebral & Cardio Vascular products also experienced continued growth, with revenues in this category increasing to $7.2 million from $5.9 million, or an increase of 22%. Sales of our "Other" category were lower by 48% compared to the same period one year ago. A couple of products from our "Other" category, including Vitamin B6, saw sales declines compared to the same quarter one year ago when these products had a surge in sales partly during the initial start of the implementation of EDL in 2010. The sales of Vitamin B6 in the past quarter were higher comparing to its sales prior to the implementation of EDL before the second quarter of 2010, but lower comparing to that right after the start of the EDL’s implementation.
Anti-Viro Infection & Respiratory once again was our largest category by sales in the third quarter of 2011 by capturing 39% of total revenue compares to 32% a year ago. CNS Cerebral & Cardio Vascular category came in second, representing 34% of total sales compares to 31% in the corresponding quarter a year ago. Sales of our Digestive Disease category has been rising steadily by reaching 15% of total sales in the third quarter of 2011 compares to 13% last year. Digestive Disease category has been gaining ground steadily over the past few quarters and has now overtaken the Other category which captured only 11% of total sales in the latest quarter compares to 24% a year ago.
Gross Margin and Gross Profit
Gross profit for the three months ended September 30, 2011 was $7.51 million, which was slightly lower compared to $7.63 million in the third quarter of 2010. Our gross margin for the third quarter of 2011 was 35.8%, compared to 40.8% in the corresponding quarter of 2010. We are seeing pricing pressure on many of our products, particularly antibiotics, although the pressure is not uniform across product lines. We expect current challenging pricing environment to persist for some time.
Pricing pressure has become more evident over the past few quarters as the effect of the Chinese government healthcare reform is being felt across all pharmaceutical products, especially in EDL related products. In terms of our gross margins by major categories, CNS Cerebral & Cardio Vascular category margins drifted a little to 43.4% from the third quarter 2010 gross margin of 44.5%. Gross margin for our Anti-Viro/Infection & Respiratory category decreased to 23.7% from 28.3%. Gross margin for our Digestive Diseases category decreased to 44.7% from 52.5%, and gross margin for our Other category fell to 42.5% from 46.5%.
While sales growth in our new and relatively higher-margin products helped to support overall margin, it was not enough to offset the sales growth of our lower-margin products. In the coming quarters, we expect to see continued pricing pressures, but believe our new products, such as Candesartan and Rosuvastatin, can help to support overall gross margin once they are launched.
Selling Expenses
Our selling expenses for the three months ended September 30, 2011 were $1 million, an increase of 124%, compared to $0.45 million for the three months ended September 30, 2010. Selling expenses were approximately 4.8% of revenue in the third quarter of 2011 compared to 2.4% during the comparable quarter a year ago. This increase is partly due to an expansion of our sales force as well as rising labor cost, and our total selling expenses can be quite volatile from quarter to quarter. Our selling expenses typically range between 2.5% to 5% of total revenue.
General Administrative Expenses
Our general and administrative expenses for the three months ended September 30, 2011 were $2.69 million, an increase of $1.81 million, compared to $0.87 million for the same period in 2010. The rise of general and administrative expenses in the quarter ended September 30, 2011 was mostly due to higher intangible asset amortization expenses. (Please see Note 4 in our notes to the condensed consolidated financial statements). After reassessing our method of amortizing our intangible assets, management made the decision to start amortizing our intangible assets when such assets are acquired as opposed to when they start to generate revenue (Please see Note 4 in our notes to the condensed consolidated financial statements).This change in methodology required us to make adjustments for amortization expenses for intangible assets acquired earlier but have not yet produced sales revenue. Other than the increased amortization expenses, our third quarter 2011 general administrative expenses were very much in line with historical norms.
Bad Debt Expense and Account Receivables
In general, our normal credit or payments terms extended to customers are 90 days. This has not changed in recent years. Our customers are pharmaceutical distributors who sell mostly to government backed hospitals. Since hospital pharmacies in China typically take a very long time to pay for their pharmaceutical products, the age of our receivables from our customers tends to be long as well. Although these customers typically pay after the due date of the receivables, we have always been able to collect our receivables and have never had an uncollectible receivable from these customers.
The amount of accounts receivable that were past due (or the amount of accounts receivable that were more than 90 days old) was $48.8 million and $41.7 million as of September 30, 2011 and December 31, 2010, respectively. The following table illustrates our accounts receivable aging distribution in terms of percent of total accounts receivable as of September 30, 2011 and December 31, 2010:
|
|
September 30,
|
|
|
December 31,
|
|
|
|
2011
|
|
|
2010
|
|
1 - 90 days
|
|
|
32.2 |
% |
|
|
36.0 |
% |
90 - 180 days
|
|
|
22.1 |
% |
|
|
23.4 |
% |
180 - 365 days
|
|
|
30.6 |
% |
|
|
16.3 |
% |
365 - 720 days
|
|
|
15.1 |
% |
|
|
24.2 |
% |
|
|
|
100 |
% |
|
|
100 |
% |
Although we have not had to write off any receivables so far in our Company’s history, we do set aside an allowance for doubtful accounts. Our bad debt allowance estimate is currently the sum of 3.5% of accounts receivable that are less than 365 days old, 10% of accounts receivable that are between 365 days and 720 days old and 100% of accounts receivable amounts that are greater than 720 days old (although there were no amounts over 720 days old at September 30, 2011 or December 31, 2010).
To the extent that our current allowance for doubtful accounts is higher than that of the previous period, we recognize a bad debt expense for the difference during the current period, and when the current allowance is lower than that of the previous period, we recognize a bad debt benefit for the difference. As of September 30, 2011, our allowance for doubtful accounts was $3.22 million compared to $3.28 million as of June 30, 2011. The decrease in the allowance was mainly due to a decrease in our accounts receivable that is between 365 days old and 720 days old, and was recognized as bad debt benefit during the quarter ended September 30, 2011 of $76,187. This is compared to an increase in the allowance of $107,186 during the quarter ended September 30, 2010. The changes in the allowance for doubtful accounts during the nine months ended September 30, 2011 and 2010 were as follows (there were no write-offs or recoveries):
|
|
For the Nine Months Ended
|
|
|
|
September 30,
|
|
|
|
2011
|
|
|
2010
|
|
Balance, Beginning of Year
|
|
$ |
3,317,017 |
|
|
$ |
2,718,358 |
|
Bad debt expense (benefit)
|
|
|
(185,463 |
) |
|
|
215,707 |
|
Foreign currency translation adjustment
|
|
|
90,172 |
|
|
|
42,012 |
|
Balance, End of Year
|
|
$ |
3,221,726 |
|
|
$ |
2,976,077 |
|
Income from Operations
Our operating income for the three months ended September 30, 2011 was approximately $3.90 million, compared to $6.20 million for the same period in 2010, which represented a decrease of $2.30 million, or 37%. The decrease in operating income was primarily due to our adjustment for amortization expenses and also lower gross margin and higher operating expenses in the current period compared to the corresponding quarter one year ago.
Derivative Gains (Losses)
Changes to the derivative warrant liability are recognized in the results of operations. A derivative gain of $0.43 million was recorded during three months ended September 30, 2010. Our warrants which were subject to derivative liability expired in May of 2011 and we had no derivative profit or loss in three months period ended September 30, 2011. (Please see Note 9 in the Footnotes to the Financial Statement to our condensed consolidated financial statements contained in this report.)
Income Tax Expense
Income tax expense for the three months ended September 30, 2011 was $0.54 million, compared with $0.67 million in the same quarter a year ago. The corporate tax rate for our operating subsidiary in China was 11% in 2010, but increased to 15% for fiscal 2011. When our favorable income tax rate of 11% ended on December 31, 2010, our tax rate was going to increase to 24%. However, because we obtained the “National High-tech Enterprise” status, our tax rate will remain at 15% through 2013.
Net Income
Our net income for the three months ended September 30, 2011 was $3.29 million, a decrease of $2.62 million from $5.91 million for the three months ended September 30, 2010. The majority of the decrease in our net income is due to higher intangible amortization expenses. The decrease in gross margins also contributed to the lowered net income figure. Our net income for the third quarter of 2010 also included a positive effect of $0.43 million of derivative gains.
Nine Months Ended September 30, 2011 and 2010
Revenue
For the nine months ended September 30, 2011, our sales revenue increased by $8.3 million, or 16.5%, to $58.7 million from the $50.4 million we generated in the corresponding period of 2010.
Set forth below are our revenues by product category in millions USD for each of the nine months ended September 30, 2011 and 2010:
Sales Revenue by Major Category (Dollar in Millions)
Product Category
|
Nine Months Ended September 30
|
Net Change
|
% Change
|
|
2011
|
2010
|
|
|
CNS Cerebral & Cardio Vascular
|
$ 18.6
|
$ 16.1
|
$ 2.5
|
16%
|
Anti-Viro/ Infection & Respiratory
|
$ 23.3
|
$ 17.6
|
$ 5.7
|
33%
|
Digestive Diseases
|
$ 8.4
|
$ 6.3
|
$ 2.1
|
33%
|
Other
|
$ 8.3
|
$ 10.4
|
-$ 2.1
|
-20%
|
During the first nine months of fiscal 2011, our overall sales revenue grew by 16.5% on a year-over-year basis, led by the Anti-Viro Infection & Respiratory and the Digestive categories. Sales in the Anti-Viro Infection & Respiratory category rose by 33% to $23.3 million from $17.6 million. Our performance in this category was impacted by outstanding sales growth of Cefaclor Dispersible Tablets and Roxithromicyn. Both of these products are front-line antibiotics in hospitals. Our Cefaclor Dispersible Tablets are typical example of our differentiation strategy, which is especially popular in children and patients with swallowing issue. The “Digestive” category continues to experience vigorous growth of 33%, mainly from Tiopronin, a drug prescribed for treatments of acute Hepatitis B and drug-induced liver damage, and Omeprazole, the generic gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) drug. Sales of CNS Cerebral & Cardio Vascular products picked up in the second and third quarter which contributed to a nine-month year over year growth of 16%, with revenues in this category increasing to $18.6 million from $16.1 million. Sales of our "Other" category were lower compared to the same period one year ago mainly due to the volatility of Vitamin B6 sales.
In the first nine months of 2011, our Anti-Viro Infection & Respiratory category was once again the sales leader by generating 39.8% of all revenues compares to 34.9% in the corresponding period a year ago. CNS Cerebral & Cardio Vascular category came in second, capturing 31.7% of total sales compares to 31.9% in the corresponding quarter a year ago. Sales of our Digestive Disease category has been rising steadily by reaching more than 14.4% of total sales in the first nine months of 2011 compares to 12.6% last year. Digestive Disease category has been gaining ground steadily over the past few quarters and has now edged out the Other category which captured 14.1% of total sales in the nine months of 2011 compares to 20.6% a year ago.
Gross Margin and Gross Profit
Gross profit for the nine months ended September 30, 2011 was $21.7 million, which was approximately 4% higher compared to $20.1 million in the first nine months of 2010. Our gross margin for the first nine months of 2011 was 37%, compared to 41% in the corresponding nine months of 2010. We are seeing steady pricing pressure on many of our products, particularly antibiotics, although the pressure is not uniform across product lines. We expect current uncertain pricing environment to last for some time.
While sales growth in our new and relatively higher-margin products helped to support overall margin, it was not enough to offset the sales growth of our lower-margin products. In the coming quarters, we expect to see continued pricing pressures, but believe our new products can help to support overall gross margin once they are launched.
Selling Expenses
Our selling expenses for the nine months ended September 30, 2011 were $2.4 million, an increase of 46%, compared to $1.7 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2010. Selling expenses were approximately 4.1% of revenue in the first nine months of 2011 compared to 3.3% during the comparable quarter a year ago. Our selling expenses typically range between 2.5% to 5% of total revenue.
General Administrative Expenses
Our general and administrative expenses for the nine months ended September 30, 2011 were $4.59 million, an increase of $2.17 million, compared to $2.4 million for the same period in 2010. The increase in our general and administrative expenses during the first nine months period in 2011 was mainly due to the adjustment in our intangible amortization account. This change in accounting estimste resulted in an increase in amortization expense of $1,799,579 for the nine months ended September 30, 2011 (Please see Note 4 in our notes to the condensed consolidated financial statements).
Bad Debt Expense
Our bad debt benefit for the nine months ended September 30, 2011 were $0.19 million, compared to a bad debt expense of $0.22 million for the same period in 2010. Please see additional discussion of bad debt and account receivables in the section above named "Bad Debt Expense and Account Receivables."
Income from Operations
Our operating income for the nine months ended September 30, 2011 was approximately $15.0 million, compared to $17.0 million for the same period in 2010, which represented a decrease of $2.0 million, or 12%. The decrease in operating income performance was primarily due to the adjustment in intangible asset amortization cost and also lower gross margin and higher operating expenses in the current period compared to the corresponding quarter one year ago.
Derivative Gains (Losses)
Changes to the derivative warrant liability are recognized in the results of operations and resulted in a derivative gain of $0.93 million during nine months ended September 30, 2011 and a derivative gain of $1.80 million in the corresponding period a year ago. (Please see Note 9 in the Footnotes to the Financial Statement to our condensed consolidated financial statements contained in this report.)
Income Tax Expense
Income tax expense for the nine months ended September 30, 2011 was $2.29 million, compared with $1.80 million in the first nine months a year ago. The corporate tax rate for our operating subsidiary in China was 11% in 2010, but increased to 15% for fiscal 2011. When our favorable income tax rate of 11% ended on December 31, 2010, our tax rate was going to increase to 24%. However, because we obtained the “National High-tech Enterprise” status, our tax rate will remain at 15% from 2011 through 2013.
Net Income
Our net income for the nine months ended September 30, 2011 was $13.5 million, a decrease of $3.4 million, or approximately 20%, from $16.9 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2010. The largest factor for the lower net income figure in the current year period is our adjustment of the intangible asset amortization account, followed by higher selling expenses and higher corporate income tax rate in the current year period.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Our principal sources of liquidity are cash generated from operations and short-term bank loans. As of September 30, 2011, our cash and cash equivalents outstanding was $4.85 million, which represents 3.25% of our total assets, an increase of $1.16 million from $3.69 million as of December 31, 2010. Of the $4.85 million of cash and cash equivalents at September 30, 2011, a total of $3.60 million is considered to be reinvested indefinitely in Helpson and is not expected to be available for payment of dividends, for other payments to our parent company or to its shareholders. As of September 30, 2011, we had a principal balance of $3.91 million in short-term bank loans. The combination of cash flow generated from operating activities and cash flow from financing activities funded the new purchases of our intangible assets (drug formulas).
During the first nine months of 2011, we continued our vigorous collection efforts. While we have made progress, improving our accounts receivable collection continues to be a focus of our management team and we expect to make further progress in the quarters to come.
|
|
Nine Months Ended September 30th
|
|
|
|
2011
|
|
|
2010
|
|
Cashflow from Operations
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net Income
|
|
|
13,464,477 |
|
|
|
16,851,026 |
|
Depreciation & Amortization
|
|
|
3,147,930 |
|
|
|
1,271,251 |
|
Changes in Assets & Liabilities
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Account Receivables
|
|
|
(4,532,320 |
) |
|
|
(4,394,468 |
) |
Advances to Suppliers
|
|
|
228,319 |
|
|
|
(1,495,898 |
) |
Inventory
|
|
|
(5,435,415 |
) |
|
|
(5,239,859 |
) |
Accounts Payable
|
|
|
(1,933,820 |
) |
|
|
277,275 |
|
Net Cash Provided by Operations
|
|
|
5,410,267 |
|
|
|
6,060,079 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cashflow from Investing Activties
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Advances for purchases of property & equipment and intangible assets
|
|
|
(2,774,173 |
) |
|
|
(1,615,399 |
) |
Purchases of Intangibles
|
|
|
(1,560,317 |
) |
|
|
(5,311,961 |
) |
Net Cash Used by Investing Activities
|
|
|
(4,745,270 |
) |
|
|
(7,147,264 |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net Cash Provided by Financing Activities
|
|
|
347,919 |
|
|
|
1,930,673 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Effect of Exchange Rate change on Cash
|
|
|
147,738 |
|
|
|
83,191 |
|
Total Change in Cash
|
|
|
1,160,654 |
|
|
|
926,679 |
|
Cash & Equivalent Beginning Balance
|
|
|
3,692,086 |
|
|
|
3,634,753 |
|
Cash & Equivalent Ending Balance
|
|
$ |
4,852,740 |
|
|
$ |
4,561,432 |
|
Operating Activities:
Net cash provided by operating activities was $5.41 million in the nine months period ended September 30, 2011 compared to $6.06 million for the same period in 2010. The decrease in cash provided by operating activities was mainly due to lower net income in the period ended September 30, 2011 compared to the corresponding period in 2010.
At September 30, 2011, our accounts receivable was $68.7 million, an increase of $6.8 million from $61.9 million at December 31, 2010. For the first nine months of fiscal 2011, $4.53 million was used to fund increases in Account Receivables, compared to $4.39 million for this category in the comparable period a year ago. Our receivables increased because our sales for the period grew by 16% and our collection was not enough to offset account receivable increases as a result of new sales.
Cash usage on Inventories for the nine months period ended September 30, 2011 was $5.44 million as compared to $5.24 million in the comparable period for 2010. Most of the inventory increase in the first nine months of 2011 was due to increased purchase of raw material inventory while the inventory increase in the nine months of 2010 was due to a temporary rise in finished goods.
For the period ending September 30, 2011, the decrease in our accounts payable was responsible for a cash usage of $1.93 million in the first half of 2011 while in the same period in 2010 a decrease in accounts payable resulted in cash addition of $0.28 million.
Investing Activities:
Net cash used in investing activities in the nine months ended September 30, 2011 was $4.75 million. The majority of the cash was used for our investments in new drug formulas during the period. This was a decrease of $2.4 million compared to the same period in 2010 of $7.15 million which also was used to purchase new drug formulas.
Financing Activities:
Equity related financing: During the first nine months of 2010, we issued approximately 1.1 million shares of common stock for total proceeds of $2.58 million from the exercise of warrants that were issued in our 2007 offering of equity units. In the first nine months of 2011, we did not have any equity-related financing.
During the first nine months of 2011, a related party lent our company $347,919 at an interest rate of 1% per annum and a term of six months.
Restrictions on Cash Dividends Distribution under the PRC laws:
According to relevant PRC laws, companies registered in the PRC, including our PRC subsidiary, Helpson, are required to allocate at least ten percent (10%) of their after-tax net income, as determined under accounting standards and regulations in the PRC, to statutory surplus reserve accounts until the reserve account balances reach fifty percent (50%) of the companies’ registered capital prior to their remittance of funds out of the PRC. Allocations to these reserves and funds can only be used for specific purposes and are not transferrable to the parent company in the form of loans, advances or cash dividends. As of December 31, 2010 and 2009, the net assets of Helpson were $110,804,607 and $83,982,912, respectively. Due to the restriction on dividend distribution to overseas shareholders, the amount of Helpson’s net assets that were designated for general and statutory capital reserves, and thus could not be transferred to our parent company as cash dividends, were $7,562,237 and $7,312,935 (fifty percent, or 50%, of registered capital) for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2010 and 2009. Since the amount that Helpson must set aside for the statutory surplus fund only accounts for 6.8% and 8.7%, respectively, of its total net assets, this reserve does not have a major impact on our liquidity.
The PRC government also imposes controls on the conversion of RMB into foreign currencies and the remittance of currencies out of the PRC. Our businesses and assets are primarily denominated in RMB. All foreign exchange transactions take place either through the People’s Bank of China or other banks authorized to buy and sell foreign currencies at the exchange rates quoted by the People’s Bank of China. Approval of foreign currency payments by the People’s Bank of China or other regulatory institutions requires submitting a payment application form together with applicable invoices and signed contracts. These currency exchange control procedures imposed by the PRC government authorities may restrict the ability of Helpson, our PRC subsidiary, to transfer its net assets to our parent company through loans, advances or cash dividends.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
There were no off-balance sheet arrangements during the nine-month periods ended September 30, 2011 or 2010.
Commitments
At September 30, 2011 and 2010, we had no material commitments except for those expenditures incurred in the ordinary course of business.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
Please refer to “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K/A for the year ended December 31, 2010, for disclosures regarding our critical accounting policies and estimates. The interim financial statements follow the same accounting policies and methods of computations as those for the year ended December 31, 2010. There were no new accounting policies and estimates during the three-month period ended September 30, 2011 that affected us in any material respect.
101 – Interactive data files pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T.