Steady sales growth stalled in the third quarter for Natural Health Trends Corp. (NHTC—NASDAQ), a marketer of personal-care and wellness products under the NHT Global brand.
Overall revenue fell 13 percent to $70.7 million, reflecting a 13 percent sales drop in Hong Kong, where the company derives more than 90 percent of revenue. Management also said mainland China results were impacted by the depreciation of the Chinese yuan, while sales likely were disrupted by government activities surrounding the G20 Summit, which took place in September in Hangzhou, a top market for Natural Health Trends.
“Despite these factors, we were pleased to have increased our revenues for the first nine months of 2016 by 18 percent over last year, as well as achieved record operating profit for the quarter of $15.2 million, up 3 percent over last year,” said Chris Sharng, President of Natural Health Trends Corp.
In the quarter ended Sept. 30, the California company cleared a profit of $12.6 million, or $1.12 a share, compared with $14.5 million, or $1.18 a share, a year ago. The board approved a quarterly dividend of 8 cents a share, up 14 percent from the prior quarter, and a special cash dividend of 35 cents a share to be paid out in November.
