On May 20, 2020 China Biologic Products Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBPO, "China Biologic" or the "Company"), a leading fully integrated plasma-based biopharmaceutical company in China, reported its unaudited financial results for the first quarter of 2020 (Press release, China Biologic Products, MAY 20, 2020, View Source [SID1234558348]).

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First Quarter 2020 Financial Highlights

Total sales in the first quarter of 2020 increased by 29.4% in RMB terms and 25.3% in USD terms to $162.6 million from $129.8 million in the same quarter of 2019.
Gross profit increased by 18.0% to $101.0 million from $85.6 million in the same quarter of 2019. Gross margin decreased to 62.1% from 65.9% in the same quarter of 2019.
Income from operations increased by 54.5% to $68.0 million from $44.0 million in the same quarter of 2019. Operating margin increased to 41.8% from 33.9% in the same quarter of 2019.
Non-GAAP adjusted income from operations increased by 52.1% in RMB terms and 47.3% in USD terms to $76.9 million from $52.2 million in the same quarter of 2019.
Net income attributable to the Company increased by 41.6% to $53.4 million from $37.7 million in the same quarter of 2019. Diluted earnings per share increased to $1.36 compared to $0.94 in the same quarter of 2019.
Non-GAAP adjusted net income attributable to the Company increased by 42.3% in RMB terms and 38.0% in USD terms to $61.4 million from $44.5 million in the same quarter of 2019. Non-GAAP adjusted earnings per diluted share increased to $1.56 from $1.11 in the same quarter of 2019.
NOTE: Detailed financial statements and information are available through this link: View Source

"This quarter’s exceptionally strong performance was mainly driven by a substantial growth in IVIG sales volume due to a rise in demand in connection with the COVID-19 outbreak," said Joseph Chow, Chairman and CEO of China Biologic. "More than 40% of the IVIG sales growth came from Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak and an area in which we prioritized our sales efforts in late 2019 and subsequently brought on key local distributors that had previously worked with our competitors. In addition to IVIG, the sales of most of our other products have been negatively impacted by the outbreak, showing either a decline or only a marginal growth. Our strong operating income growth was also attributable to reduced operating costs in the first quarter as a result of delays in our normal operational activities caused by COVID-19 related quarantine regulations."

"Looking ahead to the rest of 2020, given the limited volume of available plasma inventory and the oversold IVIG in the first quarter, we expect the overall growth rate of IVIG sales will slow down in the remaining quarters of 2020. We will make proactive adjustments to our operational strategies in the face of lower anticipated demand for most of our products, as well as lower-than-expected plasma collection volume and intensified competition."

Financial Outlook

The COVID-19 outbreak has impacted various aspects of CBPO’s operations, including plasma collection, production of certain products, and sales and marketing activities. The Company continues to actively evaluate the overall impact of the outbreak on its business and will provide financial guidance for the full year 2020 when it has better visibility.

Conference Call

The Company will host a conference call at 7:30 am Eastern Time on Thursday, May 21, 2020, which is 7:30 p.m. Beijing Time on May 21, 2020, to discuss its first quarter 2020 results and answer questions from investors. Listeners may access the call by dialing:

A live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available through the Company’s investor relations website at View Source