Natural Health Trends Corp., a Rolling Hills Estates, California-based company that markets personal care, wellness and “quality of life” products under the NHT Global brand, has reported its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2017.
For the fourth quarter, total revenue of $46.1 million decreased 26 percent compared to $62.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2016, and increased 15 percent compared to $40.1 million in the third quarter of 2017.
Revenue from the company’s Hong Kong operations, which represented 86 percent of total revenue, was $39.6 million, a decrease of 29 percent compared to $56.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2016, and an increase of 13 percent compared to $35.0 million in the third quarter of 2017.
Revenue outside of Hong Kong of $6.5 million increased 4 percent compared to $6.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2016, and increased 27 percent compared to $5.1 million in the third quarter of 2017.
Operating income of $8.7 million decreased 57 percent compared to $20.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2016, and increased 2 percent compared to $8.5 million in the third quarter of 2017.
For the full-year 2017, total revenue of $197.6 million decreased 31 percent compared to $287.7 million in 2016. Operating income of $43.1 million decreased 33 percent compared to $64.1 million in 2016. As a percent of total revenue, operating income was 22 percent, consistent with 2016.
“While 2017 was a challenging year, we regained momentum in the fourth quarter with the first sequential quarter of sales growth since mid-2016,” said Chris Sharng, president of Natural Health Trends Corp. “The overall sales decline can be traced to factors beyond our control, which hindered our members’ ability to organize meetings and conduct business, including the G20 Summit in late 2016, the 20th Anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover and China’s Communist Party’s 19th National Congress.”
Sharng further commented, “We believe our ability to increase sales over the prior quarter was a result of the improvements we made to our commission plan, combined with a number of productive incentive trips and training programs held throughout the year. Additionally, we continued to gain traction in international markets such as Europe, Southeast Asia and Japan, which all grew sales over 2016. We have also worked hard to preserve our strong margin profile despite our top-line decline through diligent expense management that aligned our cost structure to current sales levels. As we look ahead to 2018, we believe our targeted training programs and promotions, opportunities for international expansion and new product introductions will translate into improved financial performance in the quarters to come.”
To read the full NHT Q4 report, click here.
