Nu Skin Plunges On China Probe

(RTTNews) - Shares of Nu Skin Enterprises Inc. (NUS) plunged more than 34% in intra-day trading on Thursday amid media reports that Chinese officials would investigate accusations by the Communist Party's mouthpiece, The People's Daily, that the U.S. based skincare company is operating an illegal pyramid scheme in the country.

In a statement issued Thursday, Nu Ski said, "We are aware that Chinese regulators have now initiated investigations to review issues raised by recent news reports. The government regularly monitors all businesses in this rapidly growing marketplace, and as is our practice, we will continue to communicate openly with regulators to address any questions they may have."

"As part of our ongoing commitment to comply with all applicable Chinese regulations, we have initiated our own province-by-province business review and will invite relevant regulators to provide guidance. Given the substantial growth in our China salesforce over the last year, we are also taking additional steps to reinforce our training and education efforts. As we work through this evolving situation and remain focused on long-term growth, there will likely be a negative impact on China revenue, but it is too early to know whether our previous guidance will be affected," Nu Ski added.

Nu Skin shares are currently trading at $76.53, down $38.70 or 33.59%.