Summary
- On yesterday’s NHTC earnings conference call, the company’s CEO denies that they are under investigation with Chinese regulatory agencies
- A follow up report from Chinese media this morning directly contradicts what NHTC put out in their rebuttal press release and the statement that they are not under investigation
- The same article states that routine examinations are usually only done with 2 officers but serious investigations are done with the help of the Public Security Bureau, like we saw in NHTC’s case
- China is essentially all of NHTC’s business and the entire company looks to still be at risk of government intervention, which would most certainly cripple NHTC stock
Natural Health Trends (NHTC) reported earnings yesterday and posted great numbers due almost exclusively to their Hong Kong business that gives them an inroad to China. Growth in this segment allowed the company to post Q4 revenue growth of 108% and net income of $1.13 per share, but this outperformance may turn out to be short lived.
What NHTC didn’t mention is a newly published article in Chinese media (linked and translated below) this morning that directly refutes statements the company has made about its Chinese regulatory contact and claims that there is a large, ongoing investigation into the company’s business practices.
Chinese media states, in this morning’s article and based on eyewitness accounts from the scene of the Beijing office raid:
- That the staff attorney wasn’t present during the first meeting as the company claims
- That the government didn’t tell staff in their first raid that there was “not enough evidence for an investigation”.
- Based on the size of the manpower used in these office raids, that this is a large, serious ongoing investigation.
We would also like to refute the company’s claims that we are working with Chinese media. We have never contacted anyone in Chinese media and have not been active in seeking out whistleblowers for NHTC; we are simply reporting on the facts as we see them.
Unfortunately for the company, its entire business hinges on China, where the company operates via an e-commerce platform in Hong Kong because the company doesn’t have a Chinese direct selling license. It has been stated by Chinese media that the company is under investigation by various Chinese regulatory agencies. Since 95% of NHTC’s business comes from this segment, this puts the entire company at grave risk – if all operations from Chinese consumers came to a halt, the company – and its stock – would collapse. We have posted our firsthand evidence of these investigations, including photos of Chinese government officials on site at NHTC headquarters here.
The company hosted a conference call at 4:30PM EST yesterday where they said first thing that they are not under investigation by the Chinese government. The company’s CEO, Chris Sharng, says in one of his first statements on yesterday’s conference call (full transcript here):
We are in regular contact with several government agencies in Beijing and Guangzhou to ensure NHT Global’s compliance with the law. We are not under investigation and maintain good government relation.
This is a very key admission for executives to make and we’d like to note that Mr. Sharng is now on the record making this statement. It’s especially peculiar because 21st Century (a Chinese media outlet that originally broke the NHTC story) posted another story online last night, claiming that they were on the scene when the company’s office was raided, and that there was no indication that it was a routine visit.
Here is the new article from 21st Century, along with our in-house translation.
北京时间2月3日，纳斯达克上市公司然健趋势（Natural Health Trend Co.， NHTC）发布财报称，该公司2015年4季度录得销售额7370万美元，同比增长108%；全年销售额则达到2.65亿美元，同比增长113%。
Beijing Time January 3, 2016 - NASDAQ listed company Natural Health Trends Co., (NHTC) announced its financial results, the company reported 4th quarter 2015 revenues of $73.7 million, year-over-year increase of 108%; full year revenues of $265 million, year-over-year increase of 113%.
2015年末至今，然健趋势股价接近腰斩，从超过40美元/股，滑落至目前的22.61美元/股。
Since the end of 2015, the stock price of NHTC almost has been cut in half, from over $40 per share, sliding to current levels of $22.61 per share.
然健趋势近期公告称，董事会将把此前的股票回购计划由此前的1500万美元扩大至7000万美元，目前已完成1000万美元。
NHTC recently announced that the Board of Directors has increased its previous stock repurchase plan from $15 million to $70 million, and currently $10 million [of the stock repurchase] is completed.
21世纪经济报道1月11日曾独家报道然健趋势旗下主要子公司然健环球（Natural Health Trend Global, NHTGlobal）因涉嫌传销被会员举报。公开信息显示，然健趋势主要的业务收入来自然健环球香港分公司，占比达92%；而香港公司的销售额，则大部分来自中国大陆（详见本刊报道《然健环球遭会员举报’涉嫌传销’ 工商、公安部门上门突击调查》）。
21st Century Business Herald on January 11, 2016 exclusively reported that a major subsidiary of Natural Health Trend Global, NHT Global has had whistleblowers alleging suspicions of multi-level-marketing (MLM). Public record shows that the major revenue source from NHTC comes from its Hong Kong company, constituting 92%; and the revenue from its Hong Kong company mainly comes from China Mainland (Details please see [21st Century Business Herald] report ).
美国时间1月13日，然健趋势就然健环球被举报之事发布公告称，然健环球北京分公司被公安及工商部门调查时，一位分公司经理和律师在场，“‘会面’（meeting）的结果是，政府工作人员告知公司及举报人，没有充足的证据对公司展开调查。”
On January 13, 2016, NHTC put out a press release stating that when NHTC’s Beijing office was investigated by the Public Security Bureau and SAIC, one Beijing office manager and a staff attorney was there and “the outcome of the ‘meeting’ was that government authorities advised the Company and the accusers that there was insufficient evidence to warrant an investigation of Natural Health Trends.”
但本报记者1月12日下午并未在调查现场见到公告中所称的律师；工商部门工作人员彼时也仅表示，案件还需要更长时间收集证据。
But the reporter [on site] did not see the so-called staff attorney mentioned in [NHTC’s] press release on the scene on January 12, 2016; SAIC officials also simply stated that the case needs more time to collect evidence.
该公告还称，数位来自广州不同行政区的公共安全官员于1月13日下午上门检查然健环球广州总部，但其性质属于“例行检查”的一部分。
[NHTC’s] Press release also stated that several public securities officials from different districts of city of Guangzhou examined the headquarters of NHTC in Guangzhou, but the company attributed [this visit] as part of a “routine examination”.
21世纪经济报道记者日前获得的若干视频和照片资料亦显示：6-7位工商及公安部门工作人员上门调查然健环球位于广州市越秀区的中国公司总部。
The reporter from 21st Century Business Herald obtained several videos and photos days ago and these documents show that 6 to 7 SAIC and Public Bureau officials investigated the Chinese Headquarters of NHTC in Yuexiu District of city of Guangzhou.
本报记者就此事联系广州市越秀区工商局，工商局工作人员表示，案件信息不便透露，但他向记者解释了工商局对“例行检查”的人员配备情况。
The reporter contacted SAIC in Yuexiu District of city of Guangzhou regarding this matter, and the SAIC official stated that the information of the case cannot be disclosed, but he explained how manpower allocation works for SAIC “routine examinations”.
“由于人手有限，一般例行检查都由2位工商部门人员上门进行。从标准化的工作流程来看，一般在涉及重大案件时，工商会连同公安等执法人员一同办案。”该工商局工作人员说。
[SAIC official said]: “Because of the headcount limit, a routine examination usually has 2 SAIC officials visit the office. From a standard point of working procedure, usually if it’s a large, serious case, SAIC will work with officials from the Public Security Bureau.” the SAIC officials stated.
但这些信息仍能不能直接显示前述调查是否为“例行检查”范畴。1月26日起，记者就前述疑问多次致电然健环球广州总部，但截至记者2月3日发稿，除确认政府工作人员曾上门检查外，然健环球未做进一步回应。
But this information cannot show the aforementioned investigation belongs to the range of “routine examination” or not. Since January 26, 2016, reporter has tried to contact NHTC’s Guangzhou Headquarter regarding this question, but until this article release on February 3, 2016, despite that it admitted government officials visited their office, NHTC did not make any further response.
Again, this reporter claims to have been on the scene when the company’s offices were visited by Chinese government officials. They are stating not only that the staff attorney wasn’t present, but that the government didn’t tell staff in China that there was “not enough evidence for an investigation”. The reporter seems to think that based on the size of the manpower used in these office visits, that this is a large ongoing investigation. It is now this reporter’s word versus the company - who needs desperately for Hong Kong and China to hold up in order to maintain its business.
With regard to reaching out to the company to ask our questions, we had three of our team members on the call on three different lines. All of us got in the queue to ask a question and none of us were chosen, despite the company taking two questions from the same guy (who was basically spending his time congratulating the company and singing their praises). The company then simply told investors the call was over, and disconnected everyone.
