With the successive introduction of the “Opinions on Facilitating the Inheritance, Innovation and Development of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)” in certain provinces in mainland China and the “Regulations on Traditional Chinese Medicine” proposed by the Beijing municipality (Drafted Regulations on TCM for Public Opinions), the TCM industry has embarked on a rapid development. The value of some Hong Kong listed small and mid-cap companies are gradually unveiled. Here is an example, Tianda Pharmaceuticals Limited (00455.HK), which emphasizes on “the development of the Chinese medicine industry as the foundation, the development of innovative medicines and medical technologies and the development of quality medical and health care services”. The company has been drawing the attention from the market recently.
Headquartered in Hong Kong, the company has sales and distribution centers in Shenzhen, China and Sydney, Australia, which are responsible for sales network expansion and branding in Hong Kong, China, Australia, and global markets. At present, the company’s products include chemical products, biological drugs, Chinese patent medicines, herbal medicines, herbal decoction pieces, health care products and supplements, covering the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, pediatric diseases, influenza and respiratory diseases, anti-infectives, detoxification, oncology and other therapeutic areas. In addition, the company has also developed a series of health care products and supplements under the brand names of “Herb Valley” and “Tuokang”.
Opportunities are hidden in crisis
With the recent pandemic raging across the world, except for masks, alcohol and other basic epidemic prevention items, the demand for related medicines has also increased significantly. For example, the Ribavirin, one of the Tianda Pharmaceuticals’s products, has been popular since the pandemic. In particular, at the early stage of the outbreak, Tianda Pharmaceuticals raced against time and quickly collaborated with leading Chinese medicine experts to develop a TCM formulas series to combat the disease, namely “Anti-Epidemic Formula 1” (for prevention), “Anti-Epidemic Formula 2” (for remedy) and “Anti-Epidemic Formula 3” (for rehabilitation) , and launched anti-epidemic campaigns in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau, to provide complimentary TCM consultation and Anti-Epidemic Formula 1 to more than 1,000 individuals, which was well received by society. In April 2020. Anti-Epidemic Formula 1 was approved for entry into the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods as a listed medicine. It is the first TCM product to be registered in a market outside of China with preventive effects against influenza and the coronavirus disease, representing a a big step forward for Tianda Pharmaceuticals’ TCM internationalization strategy .
TCM Industry has promising prospects as policies continue to be favorable
“It is expected that China’s TCM and health industry may exceed 3 trillion yuan by 2020, and the average compound annual growth rate will remain at 20%.” — Mentioned in the white paper entitled “TCM in China” published by State Council Information Office of the People’s Republic of China. Moreover, it is expected the TCM market size may reach 170.8 billion yuan by 2022 and exceed 200 billion yuan by 2024, with an average annual compound growth rate of 10%. In 2020, the TCM market is expected to reach 580.6 billion yuan with a compound growth rate of 8.2%. With the growing awareness of using TCM and the increase in the spending power of Chinese households, Tianda Pharmaceuticals seizes the opportunity to penetrate the whole TCM industry chain from three aspects, namely Chinese medicine services, Chinese herbal medicine and TCM AI. The company has also established the “Tianda Standard”, which is more stringent than the national standard to guarantee its TCM quality, and launched TDMalls, a new style Chinese medicine clinic chain. TDMall is based in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and seek to expand nationwide and even globally in the future, striving to develop into a leading brand of Chinese medicine clinic chain. The company has already launched a flagship clinic in Zhuhai, Guangdong in May 2019 and another flagship clinic in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong in February 2020. In addition, unlike the first two, the Australian TDMall is in the pipeline and will be operated as a health care center to take advantage Australia’s blessed comfortable and healthy environment. In the future, the TDMall will promote womb care, pain treatment and recuperation as its signature services. Through leveraging on Internet technology, big data, artificial intelligence and other innovative technologies, the company has created “Cloud TDMall” to realize online and offline integration of Chinese medicine services and provision of remote diagnosis and treatment and consultation services, which provides the public with quality, convenient and comprehensive TCM health services, and helps the company to further promote the heritage, innovation and development of TCM.
Business performance remains solid
The company’s revenue for FY2020 was HK$492 million, presenting a year-on-year decrease of 6.7% as shown in the full-year results released for the year ended 31, March 2020, However, the profit for the year attributable to shareholders was approximately HK$3.14 million, increasing 18.3% compared to the same period last year. The decline in overall revenue was mainly due to the change in national medical insurance policies, which had a significant impact on the sales volume of Cerebroprotein Hydrolysate, products produced by a subsidiary of Tianda Pharmaceuticals -Yunnan Meng Sheng Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd (Meng Sheng Pharmaceutical). However, the impact on the profit for the year attributable to shareholders was mitigated by the fact that Tianda Pharmaceuticals only held 55% in Meng Sheng Pharmaceutical. In addition, sales revenue of the Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, namely Tianda Pharmaceuticals (Zhuhai) Limited, increased by 38.3% from approximately HK$177 million in FY2019 to approximately HK$246 million in the current financial year, mainly due to its main products, namely Tuoping (Valsartan capsules) and Tuoen (Ibuprofen suspension), having great sales performance and increasing by 67.8% and 31.8% respectively as compared to that for the FYE 2019. Profit contribution from Tianda Pharmaceuticals (Zhuhai) increased by 55.4% from approximately HK$16.9 million for the FYE 2019 to approximately HK$34.2 million for the current financial year, which not only fully offset the impact of the decline in performance of Meng Sheng Pharmaceutical, but also contributed to the increase in profit for the year attributable to shareholders. Chinese herb medicines, decoction pieces and TDMall business are expected to maintain growth in the future. Tianda Pharmaceutical (Zhuhai) Limited’s new research and development (R&D) and production base in Jinwan District, Zhuhai, China is expected to be ready for production in 2021 when the production capacity will be further enhanced, product variety will increase, economies of scale will maximize returns, hence proving sustained development dynamics.
Tianda Pharmaceuticals attaches importance to product R&D, and develops a wide range of products including classical TCM compound prescription, cosmetics and food products using the Cerebroprotein extraction process, and traditional Chinese medicine products such as herbal tea bag, herbal soup pack, Chinese herb syrup, health products of medicine and food with the same source, and series of mask products, etc. In response to the changes in health care reform policies, Tianda Pharmaceuticals makes every effort to consolidate and expand its generic medicine business and promote the growth of its innovative medicine business by means of diversifying sales channels, further exploring domestic and overseas markets, strengthening R&D and entering into business collaboration. At the same time, it follows national policy closely by developing TCM business with a focus on building a new clinic chain – TDMall.
Tianda Pharmaceuticals strives to build diversified channels for investors to interact with the company, thus maintaining close interaction with shareholders and investors, and promoting awareness of the capital market. The company is debt free and has been paying a steady dividend. The Board of Directors has recommended the dividend of 0.13 HK cents per share. It is believed that Tianda Pharmaceuticals will continue to drive business value to reward its shareholders in the future.
