China Biologic Profit Up 22% On Double-Digit Sales Growth

(RTTNews) - China Biologic Products Inc (CBPO), a plasma-based biopharmaceutical company, said Tuesday its second-quarter net earnings climbed about 22% to $19.7 million or $0.79 per share from $16.2 million or $0.57 per share last year.

Excluding items, adjusted earnings for the quarter were $0.82 per share.

The Beijing-based company said its revenue for the quarter rose 12% to $60 million from $53.6 million in the prior year.

"During the quarter, market demand for plasma products remained strong and we continued to make progress with our penetration into first-tier markets," said CEO David (Xiaoying) Gao.

Results were somewhat offset by a decline in gross margin to 68.5% from 69.9% last year.

For fiscal year 2014, the company continues to expect adjusted earnings of $67 million to $69 million and sales of $230 million to $240 million.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect the company to report sales of $238 million for the year.

CEO Gao said the company expects the growth momentum to continue in the second half of 2014. Also a recent decision by Chinese authorities to reduce the value added tax rate on a range of products will help sales of all plasma-based products, Gao added.