Profit growth slows sharply, Nongfu Spring stock price falls | Wilnesh News

Shares of Nongfu Spring, China’s largest bottled water maker, plunged on Wednesday after the company reported a sharp slowdown in first-half profit growth.

According to data from the London Stock Exchange, the share price of Nongfu Spring, which is listed in Hong Kong, has fallen by more than 41% this year, and fell by 12% on Wednesday.

company net profit 8% annual increase Sales in the first half reached 6.24 billion yuan ($876 million) compared with the same period last year Growth in the first half of 2023: 23.3%.

Nongfu Spring said in its exchange filing that increased competition, online backlash and “malicious defamation” had affected sales.

“Due to the impact of online public opinion in the first half of the year, the group’s brand reputation and sales of packaged drinking water products were adversely affected,” it added.

Nationalist Internet Users in China Accused company of printing images of Japanese religious buildings on green tea packagingtriggering calls for boycott. According to reports, some 7-11 stores have stopped selling Nongfu Spring products Following the controversy. Nongfu Spring claims that its architectural patterns are inspired by Chinese temples.

The company said it would “take firm legal action” against companies and individuals who “slander” the brand.

Domestic demand is generally picking up, the company said, noting that competition in the beverage sector was “increasingly intense.”

Revenue from Nongfu Spring’s packaged drinking water products, which accounted for 38.5% of total revenue, plummeted 18.3% to 8.53 billion yuan from 10.44 billion yuan in the same period last year.

Revenue from tea beverage products, which accounted for 38% of the company’s total revenue, grew by nearly 60%.