Doctor’s Best parent firm annual profits slide 67% as vitamin A and coenzyme-Q10 prices dip

By Tingmin Koe

- Last updated on GMT

Kingdomway said in its financial report for last year that the selling price of co-enzyme Q10 had dipped due to weak demand.  ©Getty Images
Kingdomway said in its financial report for last year that the selling price of co-enzyme Q10 had dipped due to weak demand. ©Getty Images

Related tags doctor's best Xiamen Kingdomway Vitamin a Coenzyme q10

Xiamen-based Kingdomway, also the parent firm of dietary supplement brand Doctor’s Best, said net profit had plummeted 67 per cent last year, largely due to a drop in the selling price of vitamin A and coenzyme-Q10 – two of its largest raw material businesses.

The parent company of supplement brands Doctor’s Best, Zipfizz, and Vit-Best reported on Shenzhen Stock Exchange last Thursday that annual total revenue was down 16.78 per cent to RMB$3.01bn (US$436m).

Net profit attributable to shareholders nosedived 67.44 per cent to RMB$256.83m (US$37.2m).

In its peak in 2020, this was RMB$959.21m (US$139.10m) and revenue was RMB$3.50bn (US$508.20m).

Kingdomway explained that the decline last year was largely due to a weak demand but increased supply of vitamin A and coenzyme Q10, which in turn pushed the selling price of these two raw materials down by 41.07 per cent and 36.41 per cent.

In turn, revenue from its vitamin A business was down from RMB$654.67m (US$94.94m) to RMB$470.14m (US$68.18m) and co-enzyme from RMB$891.24m (US$129.25m) to RMB$704.92m (US$102.23m).

The company claims to be the world’s largest supplier of coenzyme Q10.

“[The decline] was mainly because the selling price of vitamin A and coenzyme Q10 have dropped steeply, causing rate of profit to decline,” ​said the firm in the financial report.  

Vitamin D3, algae DHA, and plant-based ARA are the other key raw materials produced by the company.

Its other raw material portfolios include vitamin K2, NMN, and it has recently started to manufacture sodium hyaluronate. It is also planning to manufacture canthaxanthin, glutathione, phosphatidylserine, pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ), and nattokinase.

Health supplement business

Revenue from its finished health supplement products also dropped from RMB$1.82bn (US$264.21m) to RMB$1.62bn (US$235.21m).

The bulk of its finished products sales are taking place in the US.

US-origin brand Doctor’s Best, which it acquired in June 2016, was positioned as a category leader in nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) and coenzyme Q10, said the firm.

The brand had drawn industry attention​ for the launch of its NMN supplement on Tmall which quickly became a hit in China back in 2020.

In the US, the products are sold on Amazon, iHerb, Costco, Sam’s Club.

The firm also owns Japanese supplement brand Maikon.

Overall, its finished products consist of dietary supplements, energy supplements, sports nutrition, and functional foods.

The above products are mainly made in the form of capsules, tablets, powder, gummies, and liquid.  

In mainland China, the company mainly operates in the areas of health supplement raw materials, pharmaceutical raw materials production for export, while its finished health supplement products are mainly manufactured, sold and marketed in overseas markets.

Sales from its domestic business was down from RMB$737.57m (US$106.96m) to RMB$599.79m (US$86.98m), while that of its overseas business was down from RMB$2.88bn (US$417m) to RMB$2.41bn (US$349.41m).

For its finished products, ecommerce brought in more revenue than the offline channels.

Revenue from the online sale of its supplement products dropped from RMB$938.49m (US$136.10m) to RMB$851.48m (US$123.48m) while offline, this had declined from RMB$883.43m (US$128.11m) to RMB$770.47m (US$111.73m). 

Related news

Show more

Related products

show more

Krill oil supports six key areas of healthy aging

Krill oil supports six key areas of healthy aging

Content provided by Aker BioMarine | 26-Feb-2024 | White Paper

The global population is getting older—according to WHO by 2050 the world’s population over 60 years will double and the population above 80 years will...

Unlock the business potential of the protein trend

Unlock the business potential of the protein trend

Content provided by Valio | 24-Jan-2024 | White Paper

Read our white paper to learn how to overcome taste and texture challenges in protein products — and how to commercialise the protein trend by making delicious...

Follow us

Products

View more

Webinars

Nutra Champions Podcast

Nutra Champions Podcast